We Looked Like Giants
by coloursflyaway
Summary: After the war, Harry meets Draco in the streets, only to find he has changed. Determined to discover the reason, he pays him a visit, leading to a tentative friendship being formed. But with them both still broken, can it blossom into something more?
1. Chapter 1

He hadn't expected it to be like this, hadn't expected it so soon. Hadn't expected it here.

But there he was, looking nothing like the boy he had once known and despised, less collected and cool, instead weary and rough around the edges. Tired, Harry thought.

As if he had sensed his stare, the blonde turned around and looked directly at him, obviously surprised. Sighing deeply, he made his way over to the raven-haired wizard, his silver eyes not once leaving the other.

For a second none of them spoke, before Harry heard a sound that was barely more than another, disguised sigh: 'What do you want, Potter?'

All malice had vanished from his voice, leaving it hollow and soft.

'Malfoy', he breathed.

'Yes?'

With that, the brunet snapped out of his trance-like state. What had gotten into him, he didn't know, but he did know that, if he didn't manage to get a hold of himself and answer, he was going to look like the idiot the other one had always thought him to be. And although he shouldn't have cared, he did.

'How are you?', he asked, it being the only thing he could think of.

'How do you think I am? Brilliant of course. It's not as if every mother is pulling her child over to the other side of the street when I pass, or as if it was impossible for me to even go inside the next store without being attacked by some girl I've never seen before. So, yes, thank you, I couldn't be better.'

For a second, the old venom, the old arrogance, the old _Malfoy_ had shone through, but it disappeared as soon as it had come, leaving nothing but a lost boy, who knew that, with barely eighteen, he had lost his chance to live normally.

There was something else, too, something Harry couldn't quite pinpoint at once, since it felt so completely different from what the other one _should_ have been. When he did, though, he felt his throat constrict and his hands start shaking.

Fear.

The blonde was scared, and for an irrational second, he wanted to take the former Death-eater into his arms.

'I'm sorry', he muttered instead.

'What?', Malfoy laughed, the sound tinted bitter, 'For once in my life, I do not blame you for what has happened, and now you apologize? Couldn't you have done this three years ago and saved me the mess all together?' He ran a hand through silver-blonde hair, suddenly looking exhausted again, 'You know what, Potter? Forget it. Now, if you don't have anything else to say, I shall be going and letting you get back to being the greatest hero the wizard world has ever seen. Goodbye.'

And with that, he turned and left, Harry staring after him.

He did not know why, but the encounter with his former schoolmate and (former?) archenemy had left him shaken. So when he got back to the small apartment he had rented to find Ginny waiting for him, being the sweet and loving girl she was, he couldn't hold her and kiss her like she would've deserved. Instead, he sat there, as if turned to stone, until she stopped her tender ministrations.

She wasn't hurt or angry, though, never was, since she blamed it on his trauma, like always, and left him to his thoughts.

Something about the other boy had just felt so off, and it wasn't just the fear or the obvious loss of his arrogance and malice. It had felt like he had broken and couldn't think of a way to fix himself.

He wondered if Malfoy still thought of him as an enemy.

Harry himself had given up his hatred for the fair-haired boy long ago, when he had found him in that bathroom, crying. Shortly before he almost slashed him to pieces.

He winced; he would never get used to the memory of the lifeless figure on the floor, blood rapidly flowing from the wounds he and his thoughtlessness had caused.

The Malfoy he had met today reminded him of the boy back then; the expressions on their faces the same.

Lying down, Harry banished all thoughts from his mind. He'd deal with them later.

He found that it was impossible to forget him. Not that he hadn't tried, he had, but there was always something on the brink of his conscious, nagging him.

There had been a time when he had felt the same way, in their sixth year, when he was constantly watching the blonde boy to find out what he was up to. The only difference was that back then; his obsession had been laced with hatred, while this one was filled with something that reminded Harry of concern.  
>Seeing him so broken had reminded of Myrtle's words, telling him how Malfoy and he weren't all that unlike: That they shared the pressure placed upon them as well as the desperate fear to disappoint and fail, shared the loneliness.<p>

And suddenly he believed her, for what he had seen in the other's eyes had reminded him of himself.

Since he had defeated the Dark Lord, everything had changed. Of course, a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, but to his utter surprise, he couldn't quite relish his new-found freedom as much as he would've expected.

Now that he was the Boy Who Lived Twice, no one seemed to expect anything from him at all.

Whatever he wanted he got, and everyone, including his closest friends was treating him as if he was going to shatter at the first unkind word directed at him.

Of course he knew they only worried about him, but the knowledge didn't help. Not when they watched every of his steps to make sure he was alright and helped him with every move.

When he had tried talking with them about it, they had blamed it on his trauma.

Somehow, they had lost enough of their closeness to make it impossible to tell them about these new, strange thoughts. Ron still thought the ex-Slytherin was the worst creature to ever have walked this earth, only surpassed by his father and Voldemort and Hermione would've declared him mad. Ginny was out of the question as well; she nowadays worried about everything, no matter if there was a reason to or not.

So there was no one there to stop him when he, on one cold winter morning, decided that it had been enough.

About a week ago he had remembered another detail of their conversation: _Couldn't you have done this three years ago and saved me the mess all together? _he had said. Did that mean that somehow he was to blame for Malfoy's obvious misery?

And if that was the case, how?

He had thought about it night after night, without ever reaching a conclusion, so, in the end Harry had decided to pay his former schoolmate a visit.

Maybe, he figured, if he saw him again, it would cure this obsession before someone was going to notice it.

Getting to Malfoy Manor wasn't a problem, getting himself to actually ring the doorbell was.

Back at home, with Ginny constantly fussing about him, it had sounded like a brilliant idea, coming here and sorting this out. However, now that he was standing in front of the estate, it didn't. After all, what was he supposed to say? It wasn't as if he and the other were exactly on speaking terms.

Feeling his courage leave him, Harry pulled himself together.

He had come all the way, so he was not going to back out again. Anyway, he didn't really want to lose another night's sleep thinking about the meeting and the implications the other had made.

So he knocked and to his surprise, it barely took a minute for the door to open.

It was Malfoy, his hair slightly messy, even paler complexion than usual and the same look in his eyes Harry remembered from their last encounter.

'Potter?', he asked incredulously, 'What in Merlin's name are you doing here?'

'I wanted to talk to you', he managed to answer, sounding a bit breathless even to his own ears.

The blonde just suspiciously raised one eyebrow, but nevertheless stepped aside after a moment.

They didn't talk while Malfoy led them to the salon, a circumstance the other was glad for, since it did give him a bit of time to collect his thoughts. Still, when the ex-Slytherin gracefully sat down, he had no idea what to say.

'So, Potter, now, if you would please tell me what I own this pleasure to…'

'Do you usually open the door yourself? Shouldn't you have house elves or something for that?' As soon as the words had left Harry's mouth, he cursed himself for them; his whole mind had suddenly gone blank and he'd just said the first thing he could think of. Which turned out to be incredibly stupid.

After having stared at his visitor for a second, the fair-haired boy answered, 'We do not get many visitors these days, so, as I was walking by, I figured I could go and open it myself. Although I'm not really sure what use this information could have for you', he paused for a second, 'Still, I doubt that you would've come here, just to ask me this. Is there anything else I might do for you?' Again, there was exhaustion in his voice.

'Well…I don't really know how to ask you this…'

'Spit it out, I beg of you. I doubt that I can take any more of this', he waved his hand dramatically.

Arrogance fitted him a lot better than defeat; the other thought to himself, before, once again, trying to put in words what had led him here.

'After we met, last time', he started, 'I couldn't help but notice how much you had changed since…well, since then. You just look so tired. And so…well, I wanted to know if you're okay.'

Harry didn't look up, couldn't, but from the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde's fists clench.

'What gives you the right to come here, suddenly acting as if you're _concerned_ about me?', Malfoy asked, voice collected but obviously furious.

'Nothing', he mumbled, gaze fixed on his hands.

'Exactly. Now, if you could-'

'I just couldn't stop thinking about it', the brunet said, looking up.

'What?' the other one stopped dead in his tracks, 'You were…thinking of me?'

'I know this sounds kind of…wrong, us hating each other and everything, but…I couldn't help it. Just happened.'

The other one looked at him thoughtfully for a second before replying, 'I don't hate you. I thought I did for some time, but it turned out that I had been wrong all the way.'

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Never, never had he expected to hear these words from the fair-haired boy's mouth. At least not in this life.

'But I thought- You-', something in the former Death-eater's gaze stopped him. 'It doesn't matter, right?', he muttered, hand threading through his hair, 'But just so you know, I don't hate you either.'

With that, a bit of the sparkle returned to Malfoy's eyes, 'You don't?'

'Not anymore.'

'But…why? How?', his voice sounded a bit hopeful and a lot more alive than before.

Harry closed his eyes, 'Back then, in sixth form, when I saw you in the washing room, I just…I just knew that you hadn't wanted all this to happen, that you just didn't know how to get out of this mess again.'

'Oh', said the ex-Slytherin softly, 'I always figured that it had been that day that you really started despising me.'

'Why?'

'Because', he answered, looking the brunet directly in the eye, 'You threw a curse at me after that, which almost cut me to pieces.'

Harry winced at the memory, 'I'm incredibly sorry for that; I didn't mean to. The spell was something I read in a book, I had no idea what would happen. You have to believe me-'

'It doesn't matter.'

'What?'

'It doesn't matter', the blonde repeated, 'I deserved it.'

The raven-haired boy glared at him fiercely, 'No, you didn't! No one deserves that! It was just me and my-'

'Harry', the other one interrupted him, using his first name as if he always had, 'I wouldn't change it, even if I could.'

The words hit the ex-Gryffindor with a cold force. Blood was rushing in his ears and making his words sound hollow, 'What? Why? I almost killed you.'

'You did, but', Malfoy leaned back and ran a hand through his hair, 'Merlin, this is hard to explain…I have been so horrible to you and your friends over the years, I have done so many things I regret, so when you almost sliced me to death in that washing room, and I could feel how the blood was rushing from my body…it was like atoning for my sins.'

Harry couldn't breath, couldn't think. How could the boy in front of him really believe he had deserved what the brunet had done to him?

He wanted to shake him, to scream at him, until he stopped even _thinking_ something like that, wanted to hurt everyone who had made the blonde think so lowly of himself, but most of all wanted to hold and fix him.

'Draco', he whispered, since it would've felt wrong to address him only with his last name now.

Hearing his first name, the fair-haired boy looked up with a mixture of surprise, interest and something the ex-Gryffindor couldn't quite place, since he has never seen it in his gaze before. They sat like this, just looking at each other for a moment or two, since Harry discovered that he, again, had forgotten how to speak at the thought that, under the plain white shirt the other one wore, there had to be the scars he had inflicted.

'Well', the blonde broke the silence, 'If that was what you wanted to talk about-'

'When we met the other day', the other hurriedly interrupted him, 'you said I could've saved you this whole mess by apologizing a few years earlier. What did you mean?'

For a second Malfoy, who mysteriously had been renamed to _Draco_ in his head, stared at him expressionless, before sighing and covering his pale face with his hands. 'I just can't keep my mouth shut, can I?', he muttered more to himself than to his visitor, before looking back up, 'I suppose you are not going to leave before I tell you, right?'

Harry nodded.

'This is going to be a disaster', he ran his fingers through blonde hair, 'But okay. I suppose it had to come down to this one day…You see, seven, no, eight years ago, I met a boy. He didn't like me, I knew, but since we were going to attend the same school and I was somehow fascinated by him, I decided I try once more to make a good impression. So, next time I saw him, I gathered up all the courage I had and asked him to be my friend. Not in the most tactful way, I've got to admit, but-'

'You are talking about me', the other one interrupted.

He stared at him incredulously, 'Of course I am talking about you. Who else should I be talking about?'  
>Harry all but blushed, letting his host continue with the story.<p>

'The boy, as you surely know, did not accept my hand, but let me stand there, feeling more humiliated and rejected than ever before. However, most of all I felt worthless, and I blamed him for that. So, during the next few weeks, I convinced myself that what I was feeling was nothing more than hurt pride and most of all, hate. It worked, but only for about two years, but still, I couldn't _bear_ him to not notice me ', he stopped himself for a second, as if realizing that he had said more than he had planned to, 'So, what I actually wanted to get at was that through our entire time in school, I was trying to get your attention, even when it meant helping Umbridge or doing even worse things. When I finally realized where all of it was taking me, I couldn't stop anymore. At least not without hurting my family', he cleared his throat, 'Now, could you please-'

'Why didn't you just tell me?'

'Well, how should I have done that?', the ex-Slytherin asked sarcastically after a second of staring at him, '"Hello and sorry that I tried to make your life a living hell for the past years, actually I just wanted to be your friend?" Wouldn't exactly have gone well, don't you think?'

Harry had to agree. Why he did believe the other now, and wouldn't have before, he couldn't quite tell.

'But- well, it probably doesn't matter anymore', he stopped, thinking, 'Is it- is it still the same?'  
>'…I can't quite follow you, I'm afraid.'<p>

'Do you still want me to see you?'

The fair-haired boy in front of him gave him a shocked look, before turning away. He could've been wrong, but Harry thought he saw him blushing.

'…Yes.'

For a moment, everything went blank in the brunet's mind, before returning just a touch lighter and warmer than before. He closed his eyes and thanked whoever might have been listening.

'Then…may I come back?'

The smile on _Draco_'s face told him all he had to know.

When Harry got back home, he was in an exceptionally good mood; better than it had been for weeks. Ginny noticed, but decided not to ask.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I'd like to thank __**theghostinside**__ for being brilliant and helping me out a lot with this chapter (like I probably said a hundred times before, I really appreciate it), as well as all the people who are so nice to actually put this to their alerts. You make my day, all of you (: _

It took him a week to gather up the courage and visit his former schoolmate again.

After all, just because their last encounter had gone well, it didn't mean that the next one would too, and he didn't want to lose this new… bond he had established with the other so soon.

In the end it had been Ginny whose words had driven him there again.

She had noticed his returning restlessness, and had asked him to tell her the reason for it. Of course, he hadn't been able to, but when he told her, she just looked at him thoughtfully. 'It's just so strange, because last week there was a time when you looked so much more relaxed…much happier. I thought you had finally found a way to deal with everything that happened last year.'

With that, she had returned to massaging his shoulders, not knowing what uproar she had caused in her boyfriend's mind. When he thought back, he could see what she had been talking about: Over the last few days, the tension had reappeared, but before that, he really had felt better.

And the only thing which had caused it had been his visit at Malfoy Manor.

Which had brought him back here, standing at the front door, heart beating against his chest. Just as wanted to leave again, feeling both relieved and disappointed at the same time, the door opened, revealing a weary looking Draco Malfoy.

'What do you wa- Oh', he stared at his visitor, obviously startled, 'I'm sorry; I didn't expect it to be you.'

'I figured', came the reply. For a second, they stared at each other, unsure what to do, before Harry tentatively held out his hand.

Surprised, the other looked at him before slowly shaking it.

The fair-haired boy led him inside, but past the salon they had been sitting in last time. When he attempted to step inside, his host just looked at him with an unreadable expression and said, 'If you don't mind, I'd rather not go in there.'

'Why? Last time…'

'Last time', the former Death-eater spoke, 'I hoped you'd feel it too, and leave sooner.'

'Feel what?'

'Let's just say that a few things happened in there which were rather…unpleasant.'

'What happened?', Harry asked, unwilling to let this go, and when the other didn't answered added a soft, 'Draco?'

Surprised, the blonde looked at him.

'I like it when you use my first name', he stated simply.

The brunet felt blood rising to his cheek and obviously completely failed fighting it down, since the other asked teasingly, 'My, my, have I really made the great Harry Potter blush?'

'Shut up', he mumbled awkwardly while following the ex Slytherin, 'Anyway, you haven't answered my question…Draco', he added almost as an afterthought.

'You're not going to stop until I answer, are you?', he asked mildly annoyed, 'But just so you know, you're not going to get me to do everything you want, just because you use my name.'

Harry smiled; they were going to see about that.

The other ran a hand through his hair and sighed, 'I really have to do this, right?'

The Boy Who Lived Twice nodded.

'You're not going to like it, I warn you.'

Another nod. He had figured that much.

'And you still want to hear it.'

'Yes.'

'Somehow I knew that'd be the answer', he sighed before continuing, 'As you surely know, before you defeated the Dark Lord, he was residing…here.'

Yet another nod followed the short pause.

'If he wasn't happy with your behaviour or you failed with a task he set, then he…well, punished you.' He looked away, refusing to look the other in the eye.

In the meantime, Harry had figured out that the blonde was saying exactly what he had feared he would.

'Voldemort…he tortured you in there.'

'No shit, Potter', he sneered at his guest, the old mask of hate and disgust miraculously in place again, 'You have always astonished me with your intelligence.' However, a second later he slumped again.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just…I don't like talking about it. '

Anger had surged up within the brunet as he listened to the other's story. If hadn't already killed the dark wizard, he would've done it again.

'What did he do?', he asked through gritted teeth, since, although he knew thinking about it was hurting the other, he had to know.

Draco let out a humourless laugh, 'Do you really think I remember all the times he used the Cruciatus curse on me? Merlin, I'm _glad_, I've forgotten about most of them. Anyway, control your hero complex; believe me, it's not as charming as you think.'

_All of the times_… The words echoed in the raven-haired boy's mind. If the knowledge that the blonde had been tortured once had made him angry, the revelation that it had actually happened numerous times made him downright furious.

He clenched his fists to stop them from shaking.

'What's wrong, Potter?', the blonde asked when noticing the lack of response he got from his visitor. Looking at his shaking hands, he stared at the brunet, eyes wide with shock, 'Did just this really make you so angry?'

'Just this?', the other fumed, 'What do you mean by _just this_? He tortured you! Of course I'm angry!'

'And what gives you the right to be? If I may remind you, we're not exactly friends.'

There was a glint in the fair-haired boy's eyes, which reminded Harry of the times at school, when they were fighting and one of them was close to hexing the other.

'What has that got to do with it? It's not my bloody fault that I, unlike you, _care_ about other people.' He knew, he shouldn't have lashed out on the other, if the reason for his fury was someone completely different, but he just made it _so_ easy.

Draco stared at him for a second, eyes full of confusion, before muttering, 'You care about me?'

'Obviously!'  
>'I…I never knew.'<p>

'I…', the Boy Who Lived Twice stopped, thinking, 'Me neither, actually.'

Both fell into silence, before the former Death-eater spoke once more, 'Well, Potter-'

'Would you… would you maybe call me by my first name too?' When he saw the other's surprised face he added, 'The people I care about usually call me Harry.'

Slowly, very slowly, a small smile spread across the fair-haired boy's face. 'I suppose this answers my question.'

'What question?'

'The one I wanted to ask, before you so rudely interrupted me', Draco answered.

'And what was it?'  
>'I wanted to know, where all of this secret-sharing does leave us…', he paused, thinking, 'Although I still do not consider us friends…yet.'<p>

His eyes twinkled and Harry couldn't help but smile.

Over the next three weeks, the black-haired wizard spent more and more time at Malfoy Manor, slowly strengthening the bond he had formed with Draco. The other male seemed more relaxed there days, he thought and surprisingly, he felt himself relax while being around his former nemesis as well. Feeling the memory of his hatred vanish so easily and without leaving a trace was startling, to say at least. More than once he'd thought back to what the former Death-eater had done, but not one of his actions was able to revive the grudge he had borne for the other so long. If remembering all the insults and fights, he now only saw a young boy, who admired his father enough to believe everything he said, when thinking of his once-broken nose someone who needed to prove his hatred to himself.

Not even the memory of Dumbledore's death and how Draco had let the other Death-eaters into Hogwarts did provoke any wrath; he knew the fair-haired boy had been pushed into his role by fear, not by real sympathy for the Dark Lord.

Most of their afternoons they didn't even talk, just sat next to each other, thinking in amicable silence. However, when they did, it was different than with his other friends, surprisingly easy even.

Suddenly it was fine to speak about how, without a constant danger, his life felt empty or that something between him, Ron and Hermione had gone missing when the two of them finally got together.

The blonde listened to all he had to say, without interrupting or generally speaking, but when looking at him, Harry just knew the other actually cared.

Still, Draco barely told him about himself, which left the brunet wondering if he didn't trust him, or if he just waited for the right moment. It hurt, though, especially the first thought.

So, one day, as they were wandering around the gardens, wrapped tightly into their cloaks, the raven-haired wizard asked.

'Don't you trust me?'

The other looked at him curiously, 'Why are you asking me this?'

Harry shrugged, 'You just never tell me anything about you. I've told you things I wouldn't even consider speaking about with my girlfriend, while the most personal thing you said in the past was who you went out to have a drink with or what book you finished reading.'

'That might be because you, as far as I know, do not really talk a lot with her.'

The Boy Who Lived Twice narrowed his eyes, 'You're avoiding the question.'

'Fine', the blonde held up his hands in defeat, glaring at him, 'What shall I speak about?'

'I don't know', he answered, 'That's the whole point of it, really. Just…tell me something about yourself. But something you wouldn't want everyone to know', he added as an afterthought, fearing he'd get stuck with another story about novels.

The other looked thoughtful for a moment, then, obviously having decided, took a deep breath before starting to speak.

'I do trust you, Harry, and it's scaring me.'

The first thing the brunet noticed was not, in fact, the confession of trust but the fact that the other one used his first name.

Not that he'd kept watch, but now, looking back, he became aware that the ex-Slytherin had completely avoided using any of his names for the past weeks. He wondered why, since it had been him who dropped the surname first.

And then, quite suddenly, his brain registered what else Draco had said.

_He did trust him. _

A warmth filled the raven-haired wizard's heart, which momentarily drowned every trouble he had had with the world in the last months.

However, something about the statement had felt wrong.

'Why does it scare you?'

The blonde looked at him incredulously, 'I do not trust people. I don't. Trust is something for Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs, but nothing for a Malfoy.'

When the other wizard looked at him unbelievingly, he added, 'Honestly, I don't think I've ever trusted anyone apart from my family.'

Suddenly, Harry felt breathless. Of course, he had known that the other's trust was something special, but he hadn't realized how special.

'Do you understand now why it's a terrifying thought that I'd willingly tell you my secrets, after only three weeks? I don't even want to know what'd happen if we'd become friends one day.'

Like always, it hurt a little when the former Death-eater reminded him that they were nothing more than acquaintances, but he pushed the feeling aside.

'It might be a good thing, though', the brunet uttered after a second had passed, expecting his host to sneer and tell him how these things were _obviously_ completely horrible. While the fair-haired wizard was slowly losing his weariness, he was regaining his sarcasm and pride. Harry figured it was worth it, though.

However, the sneer never came.

'Do you trust me, then?'

'What?', the raven-haired boy spluttered.

'You've heard me perfectly well. It's only fair if you've got to tell me something about you, too.'

Somewhere inside there had to be a part of him, who didn't want to admit it, who fought against it, so it took the Golden Boy just a bit too long to answer, 'Yes.'

The ex-Slytherin raised an eyebrow and looked at him emotionless, 'I don't believe you.'

'What?', muttered the other one in shock. He definitely hadn't expected this.

'I don't believe you.' His voice was cold, only a hint of anger, of hurt betrayed that he was indeed feeling anything, 'Not that I could blame you, I wouldn't trust me either, and you have even less reason to. Now, if you could leave, I do not think we've got anything more to discuss.'

'But-', Harry started desperately.

'Goodbye', and he turned on his heels, leaving the brunet wondering how he had manage to screw everything up once again.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you all very, very much again for the sweet comments and the faves. You don't know how happy you guys are making me (:_

Due to his anger (directed both at the Golden Boy and himself) as well as the desperate need to leave this terrible mess his _trust_ had caused, behind, it took Draco barely a minute to get back to the Manor and lock the door behind him. Sliding down the wall he waited for footsteps, one part desperately hoping for them, the other wishing for the ex-Gryffindor to just disappear. Everything had been so much easier without the brunet in his life.

Said boy seemingly disagreed, since only moments later, he could hear him approaching, the pattern of his steps telling the former Death-eater he was running.

'Draco?', he heard his voice call, a little out of breath, 'Just hear me out; you've got this all wrong. I didn't hesitate because I don't-'

Ignoring the burning ache in his chest, he fair-haired boy picked himself up from the floor, telling himself to stop being so pathetic and _weak_, instead to act like his old self again. The one, who could deal with the Boy Who Lived Twice without getting so ridiculously emotionally attached…or at least without showing it.

What he had wanted Harry-no, Potter, because first names were definitely not appropriate anymore- to say, he didn't know, only that the words he had heard weren't the ones.

* * *

><p>Outside, the raven-haired wizard continued knocking until his knuckles were raw, but without ever getting a reaction from the boy inside. Willing himself to calm down, he eventually turned around and left, not without turning around once more, still hoping for a sign.<p>

Draco sighed when he saw the other disapparate. It had taken much too much time; so much, in fact, that once or twice, the ex-Slytherin had almost gone down and opened the door, before stopping himself. He would not, he repeated to himself, forgive the Golden Boy. Turning away from the window, he undid the silencing charm he had used to keep out the sound of the constant knocking.

Really, he should have known better all along.

When Harry arrived back home, he barely made it to his sofa, before even the last bit of strength left him. He slumped back, unknowingly wearing the same expression as the blonde had, after closing the door.

The force of his feelings surprised him; after all the ex-Slytherin hating him again was just going back to how things had been a month ago. Still, somehow everything had changed, since the other wasn't just that _bloody, snobbish, arrogant git_ anymore, with whose hate he'd been more than fine with, suddenly he was _Draco_, who he had sat next to, and talked and once even laughed with. Suddenly he was a person, and not only that, but someone he cared for, and who he had thought, cared for him, too.

He breathed in deeply, wishing to go back in time and prevent this mess, for now if the other had asked him the same question again, he would've known the answer in an instant.

_Yes_.

However, it was too late now; he'd gone and ruined his one chance he had with the other wizard, just because he'd been scared. It was a funny thought, though: He had defeated basilisks, Death-eaters and even Voldemort himself, but when it came to admitting he _trusted_ someone, from all things, he hadn't been brave enough.

The next thing he did was something he hadn't done for a long time now: He went to see Ginny.

When he stepped out of the fireplace, however, he almost regretted his decision. Upon seeing him appear, her face changed from carefree to worried as she dropped the kettle of tea she'd been holding to rush over to him, not caring what happened to it.

'Harry! What's wrong?'

Surely, this was only because of the concern, hurt and anger which had to be etched onto his face, but still he couldn't help wish his own girlfriend would not only be interested in his problems.

'It's nothing', he tried, 'I just wanted to see you.'  
>His efforts were in vain; the redhead just raised an eyebrow, indicating she didn't believe him at all.<p>

And the Golden Boy just didn't have the strength anymore to talk himself out of it again. 'I had a fight', he said, 'With a friend of mine.'

'Oh Merlin, don't tell me you and Ron have been at each other's throat again.'

'What?', for a second he had forgotten that his visits at Malfoy Manor had been a secret, 'No, not Ron. It's someone you don't know… from my days back at the Dursley's.'

He couldn't believe how easy it was, lying to his girlfriend.

'That explains were you've been off to all the time…'

'Ah, sorry for that…I just needed a bit of time with someone who didn't know about the war…him being a Muggle and everything.'

'It's fine', she smiled sweetly, 'Still, why did you fight?'

'I…', Harry searched for the right words, 'I didn't give the right answer when he asked me something very important. You see, we've only met each other again about a month ago, and well, before that we didn't even like each other. Actually, we were something like enemies.'

'Like you and Malfoy?'  
>Luckily, she did not seem to notice Harry spluttering and blushing just the tiniest bit.<p>

'…You could say that, I suppose. Anyway, I just started to notice that I really enjoy his company and then, I go and ruin everything.'

'It can't be that you've ruined everything by just one false answer, can it?'  
>'He's not used to having friends, at least not real ones, and now he probably thinks I just pretended all along, too', he told her, instead of giving her a real answer.<p>

She looked at him for a second, unreadable expression on her face, 'But then it's not hard to fix this again.'

'What? …How?'  
>'You've got to show him that he's wrong. Show him you care. If I can see it, I am sure he can, too.'<p>

Harry kissed her and told her, still so close their lips were brushing, 'You're brilliant.'

She smiled, 'Thank you, but I'm sure you would have thought of that too…after some time.' And when she laughed, her eyes twinkled in a way that gave her back a bit of her carelessness, reminding him why he had fallen for her in the first place.

'But you do know', she continued, 'You can't really go there now; you should give him time to cool off and apart from that it's too late now anyway. So, how about you spend the night?'

He nodded.

The next morning, the Golden Boy awoke far too early, after a night of restless sleep and nightmares of yesterday's mistake. Not wanting to wake his girlfriend, who was curled up next to him, red hair spread out around her, he carefully untangled their limbs, even casting a silencing charm before leaving the room.

While showering and brushing his teeth, he planned his next steps: He'd go to see Draco immediately after having breakfast, since he knew for a fact that the other boy wasn't blessed with good sleep either. Nightmares, the blonde had told him, of his parents being killed, of the night Snape killed Dumbledore and then, his godfather's funeral.

Also, if he appeared early, the possibility the ex-Slytherin had already left were low. Already feeling better, now he knew what to do (and how to hopefully fix everything), he went into the kitchen to prepare tea, of which he kept one mug for Ginny, putting a spell on it to ensure it'd stay warm. Before leaving, he wrote a note, thanking her once more for her advice and understanding, as well as telling her were he was going.

_Love you_, he wrote, after a second. It seemed only appropriate.

Then he apparated to Malfoy Manor.

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy didn't wake up that morning, since he hadn't even gone to sleep. Instead he had spent the entire night wandering around the Manor uselessly, trying hard to take his mind off a certain raven-haired wizard.<p>

Needless to say, he had failed miserably. With each thought of the other, his chest tightened to the point on which he was almost unable to breathe; once he had almost started crying, before getting a grip on himself.

A Malfoy did not cry, he told himself, graciously forgetting about the incident in the washing room back in the sixth form…which, of course, reminded him again of Potter, a memory that make his head spin once more.

Hearing a sound, he turned around, ready to shout at any house-elf who was daring to disturb him, before recognizing the noise as the doorbell. This could only mean one thing: He was back.

One part of him, the one he repressed, wanted to storm down, open the door and apologize, while the one he actually allowed himself to have, reminded him again of the Golden Boy's betrayal the day before.

Feeling another surge of breathlessness coming, the former Death-eater put another silencing charm on the door, before sinking down on the next chair, wishing he'd never met Potter at all.

* * *

><p>When the door finally opened, after three days of knocking until his knuckles were sore and swollen, his heartbeat sped up and his breathing quickened. He just couldn't believe it, didn't in fact, that finally he'd get the chance to set everything right again. Because he would, even it'd kill him.<p>

'Draco, what happened was nothing more than-', he started, just to be cut off.

'The master wants me to inform you, that your presence here is not only unwanted, but also without use. Your attempts at reconciliation are futile, since he does not ever want to see you again.'

The house-elf bowed politely, before shutting the door again. Tears welled up in Harry's eyes, when his brain started to process what had just happened. Until now, he had believed he could manage, could fix this, but obviously he'd done a lot more damage than he'd thought; so much, in fact, the other wouldn't even look at him anymore.

_He does not ever want to see you again_… the line repeated itself in his head, growing louder and louder until it drowned every other sound.

He disapparated before the first tear hit the floor.

From above, a fair-haired boy was watching, hand clenched as he held unto the curtains of the window to support him. It hadn't been planned, watching the elf deliver the message, but in the end, he just had had to know how the Golden Boy reacted. To see him smile, when the door opened had reminded Draco of their past encounters and it hurt, knowing he was never going to see that expression again. After all, the brunet couldn't possibly know that the one he expected to see hadn't been downstairs since their last meeting, hadn't dared to be near the door in case Harry might knock. Since, in that case, he wasn't sure he'd stay in control over his actions.

To see that smile falter broke the blonde's heart and he turned away, a second too early to see it being replaced by a mask of shock and devastation when the Boy Who Lived Twice heard the house-elf's announcement.

When he dared to look again, the raven-haired wizard was already gone, and for once in his life, he actually allowed a tear to make its way down his cheek. It still felt as if the other had given him up too easily.

'What happened?', Ginny asked as soon as she arrived to find her boyfriend sitting on his sofa, looking as if he hadn't moved for hours.

'He sent someone else', he replied after a while, voice rasping and hollow, 'To tell me he doesn't want to see me again. Not ever.'

The redhead paled. Whoever this mysterious friend was, he meant a great deal to the boy in front of her, maybe even more than the brunet admitted to himself. And since Harry was one of the most important people in her life, she was not going to let this person hurt him even more.

Sitting down beside him, she took his hand, 'I'm sure if you just give him a bit more time-'

'No, Ginny', he interrupted her, desperation and defeat clear in his voice, 'I've ruined it for good this time.'


	4. Chapter 4

'Harry!', before he knew what was happening, someone hugged him close to their chest, knocking most of the air from his lungs.

'Hermione, Ron!', he greeted his friends breathlessly as soon as the girl had released him, 'What are you doing here? Haven't seen you for ages.'

The both of them looked at him a bit sheepishly, before the redhead answered, 'Well, you see, Ginny called us…she's worried about you, mate.'

The last few days had been terrible, to say at least.

The girl had spent even more time than usual at her boyfriend's flat, watching him slowly give up the bit hope he had still possessed when returning from Malfoy Manor for what seemed the final time, as each day had passed without a sign from the other boy. Each time she saw his face fall when he discovered that no owl came bearing a letter, leaving he wondering which person could gain such an influence on the Boy Who Lived Twice in such short time.

In the end, she had decided to inform her brother about his best friend's state. Maybe, she figured, it'd do the raven-haired boy good to see the rest of the Golden Trio again.

'She said, you had a fight with a friend of yours you obviously value very much', the brown-haired girl added, 'What happened? And who is he?'

Harry sighed, he really hadn't wanted to talk this through with his friends -the risk of them recognizing who he was talking about in reality was too big- but he didn't have much choice. If he refused, it'd look even stranger.

'It's someone I know from my time with the Dursley's', he started, repeating the story he had already told Ginny: How he had by accident met his former tormentor in a Muggle shop, where they had started talking, only to find out that they weren't quite that different. How they had begun to meet up more often and finally built up something you could, with a bit of good will, call a friendship. And how Harry had destroyed everything, by not saying the right word, at the right time.

At the end of story, Hermione was looking at him with a strange mixture between disappointment and concern.

'You do realize that I know you made this up, don't you?', she asked softly.

'…what?', he replied completely dumbfounded.

'The story. Nothing of it did happen, right? So who have you really been fighting with?'  
>Shock written in his face, the Golden Boy stared at her. He had somehow thought she had lost the ability to read him so well since she had gotten together with Ron.<p>

'Harry, we're your oldest friends. You can tell us', she urged him on.

He wanted to lie to her, tell her he didn't know what she was talking about, but then changed his mind. What did it matter anyway? It wasn't as if he was going to see the other again.

'It's Draco Malfoy', he said quietly.

The other's reactions were exactly how he had imagined them: Hermione fell quite, obviously startled, with a look in her eyes that made clear she thought Harry had lost his mind while Ron blanched and made a sound as if he was being strangled.

'As in the slimy, arrogant git who spent _years_ just trying to make our lives as miserable as possible?', he choked out.

'Don't you call him that!', the raven-haired wizard spat defensively, before returning to silence. He should have known it wouldn't go well, that they wouldn't understand.

'It…really is Malfoy, isn't it?', the brunet female asked after a few moments, leading him to look at her incredulously.

'Of course it is. What, you think I just said it to shock you? No, sorry, this time I mean it.' It had been a long time since he had been just so _angry_ at his friends.

'Sorry', she replied almost embarrassed, 'It's just so unexpected after all you've done to each other. After what _he_ did.'

'I can't believe you actually want him to talk to you again', Ron started sounding both shocked and somewhat disgusted. And Harry exploded.

'What is your bloody problem? At least he was there and didn't disappear just because suddenly, someone was there who would snog him!'

'What, do you now blame us for being stuck with the stupid ferret?'

'For fuck's sake, use your brain for once in your life, Ron! Why the hell should I blame you? I like him, believe it or not! If anything, I have to be grateful for you both ignoring me to go shag, because I might have made the mistake of telling you earlier and letting you ruin everything from the very start, just because a long time ago, I thought the same way as you do!', breathing hard, he glared furiously at his best friend for a second, before, in a low and dangerous, adding, 'And if you dare to call him names or insult him in any way again while you here, I will make sure you'll never set a foot over the threshold to my flat once more.'

A long silence followed after that, in which the redhead did his best not to look at the other boy, who still tried to calm down. In the end, it was Hermione who spoke first. 'Have you told Ginny who the fight was really with?'  
>'No, I've told her the same story as I told you.'<p>

'But…', she hesitated, not wanting to anger the boy once more, 'Don't you think you should?'

Harry sighed, 'I suppose.'

The brown-haired girl nodded, 'We'll just wait here, while you talk to her. And… sorry.'

He smiled at her weakly, before turning around to find his girlfriend.

She was sitting in the kitchen, a cup of tea clutched between her hands. It only took him one glance to know she had heard him and her brother fighting; she looked shaken.

'Hello', he greeted her quietly, sitting down in front of her.

'Hi.'

'You've heard me and Ron arguing, haven't you?'

She nodded yes, trying to smile. 'Has he acted like an idiot again?'

'You could say that, I guess…but actually I didn't want to talk about him. You see, I haven't been quite honest with you, Ginny, and I'm terribly sorry about that. I don't know what came over me, I just didn't know what you'd say if I told you the truth.'

'Which truth, Harry?', she asked, obviously scared of the answer she would get, but still intent to stop his rambling.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he told her, 'The person I've been meeting for the last month, the one I was fighting with, isn't someone I know from my time in the Muggle world. It's Draco Malfoy.'

The redheaded girl stayed silent for a minute, before looking up at him, both shock and pain visible on her face.

'Why didn't you just say?'  
>'I…I don't know; I just panicked. Thought you'd believe I'm mad, since I spent so much time hating him.'<p>

Her look changed into something softer as she leaned over to take his hand. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking.

'You can trust me, I thought you knew that. Of course, he isn't exactly the person I'd like you to be friends with the most, and I certainly can't imagine to befriend him myself, but as long as you want to…I won't stop you. Not that I could, obviously, since I know how stubborn you can be when it comes to people you care about, but I wouldn't even try, and you should have known that.'

'You're right, of course. If I could change it, I would', Harry answered and she gave a small, forgiving smile, which left him incredibly relieved. For a moment, he loved her more than ever before.

He entered the living room, still wearing a small grin and a bit of Ginny's lipstick on his face. 'She forgave me', he said to Hermione, before sitting down again.

His friend smiled back, before returning to a more serious look, 'I just wanted to repeat that I am sorry for my reaction earlier, I didn't think. Although I still don't trust Draco Malfoy and probably never will, I respect your decision to give him a second chance. He is going to need a friend over the next time, since I am sure most people will not be willing to change their minds so easily. Also, since Ginny told me you seemed so much happier when you were still on talking terms with him, I am going to try and help you in any way to try and fix this…whatever exactly _this_ is.'

She looked relieved when she finished, and the brunet just knew she had been preparing this speech since he had left to find Ginny.

'Thank you, Hermione, I really appreciate it and…I missed you. Just so you know.'

She pulled him in a hug, before replying, 'I missed you, too. And also, what I forgot earlier, sorry for, well, disappearing. Wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do. Oh, and I also want to apologize for Ron's behaviour earlier on; it was completely unacceptable. Of course, it would be better if he could tell you himself, but I fear that this has upset quite a lot, especially in connection with what you said.'

Only then did the Golden Boy notice the ginger's absence from the room.

'He went back', the brown-haired female explained quickly, 'Mumbling something about you being out of your mind or, even worse, cursed into submission by Malfoy. But don't pay him too much attention', she quickly added when noticing the other's face contort with anger, 'He'll come round; he's just having a hard time accepting it.'

Harry nodded.

'Anyway, what is much more important at the moment is what we can do about your fight with Malfoy. Now, what did really happen?'

And so he told her, from when they first met, up until he had been rejected by the house elf, right at the front door. She listened, from time to time asking questions, and he suddenly noticed just how much he had really missed her.

After he had finished, she stayed silent for a while, looking at him with a strange expression.

'You do care a lot about him', she asked, as if to confirm something which only she knew.

'Yes. I know it's strange, but…'

Again, she gave glanced at him, before nodding.

'I think he does, too, at least after what you've told me. And I suppose he does, just like you, not know why exactly that is, and it's terrifying him. That's probably why he reacted so strongly when he thought you did not reciprocate his feelings, since if you didn't, he would be left, not knowing what to do. Also, from what I know about the family in general, it doesn't seem like they do know how to deal with trusting other's very well.'

'He told me something similar, that he had never trusted anyone except his parents before.'

'That'd fit', Hermione mumbled, more to herself than to her host.

'What?'

'Oh, nothing', she answered hastily, 'Doesn't matter.'

Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't press on.

'I am completely sure that your deduction is once again flawless, but _what should I do_?', he asked instead.

The girl looked at him with the same expression she used when Ron asked something particularly stupid.

'Go and talk to him, of course.'

'Well, I tried, but if I may remember you, it didn't go very well.'

'You've got to be more stubborn. He thinks, you're not as interested in hi- in this friendship as he is, and currently, by not turning up anymore, you seemingly prove him right.'  
>'But- but he…the house-elf said he didn't want to see me again!'<p>

'It's…complicated. Just trust me on this.'

Harry nodded; he had long accepted that just doing what Hermione said, even if it did sound a little illogical at that time, was a good idea. Most of the times.

_A/N: I'd like to thank the _ghostinside_ and _superioritycomplex144_ for their kind reviews, they make me really, really happy (: And I'm sorry for this very... Draco-less chapter, I'll try to make it up to you with the next one. _

_Take care xx  
><em>


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thank you to _theghostwithin_, _superioritycomplex144_, _Lady Constance Malfoy Hummel_ and _Fantony_ for putting ridicullously large grins on my face with their sweet reviews. _

_Also I'd like to dedicate this to my wonderful, amazing sister who goes by the name of _the14th_. I love you (:_

His heart was pounding as if it was the very first visit at the Manor when Harry arrived, inconveniently landing in a big pile of snow. Brushing the white powder from his clothes, he started making his way towards the front door, fully prepared to start knocking until he would get an answer. However, when he was only a few steps away from it anymore, said door suddenly opened, revealing an unusually pale and weary looking Draco Malfoy. The fair-haired boy did obviously not notice him, since he stepped outside instead of rushing back to safety, looking as if he was treading on thin ice not solid ground,.

Although the blood rushing through his veins suddenly made it impossible for him to hear, the tightening of his throat prevented him to breathe properly and he could barely see where he was going for his eyes were entirely fixed on the figure in front of him, Harry stumbled forwards. This could be the only chance he'd get.

The ex-Slytherin looked up for a second, expression on his face positively horrified as he recognized the familiar face. He started moving backwards, when the raven-haired wizard suddenly found his voice again, gasping the other's name.

* * *

><p>When the former Death-eater had decided to finally set foot outside again, he had definitely not expected this. After almost a week of silence, he had figured that the Golden Boy had just given up on him. He had told himself it was for the better, no matter how much pain it caused him, since, if the brunet had been able to hurt him to this extend already, he was clearly getting far too attached to him.<p>

However, seeing the boy had made that thought vanish completely.

Pulling himself together one more time, he drawled, 'What do you want, Potter? I thought I had made it clear that I don't want to see you'. Maybe, _hopefully_, he mused, it would be enough to get the other to leave, since, if he stayed there was no guarantee for him acting sensible anymore.

'I wanted to apologize. Believe me, I never wanted to hurt you, Draco. I trust you, but it's just so scary, because it's all going so fast, _too_ fast maybe, but…', the Boy Who Lived Twice took a deep breath, 'I wouldn't change it. '

It obviously hadn't been enough to shy the other away, but in that very moment, the fair-haired boy didn't care, because whatever Potter- no, _Harry_- was saying, it was the right thing.

It had to be the right thing, because the other wizard sounded just as frightened as he felt, but at the same time so sure of what he was saying. And if the Golden Boy wouldn't want to change this strange bond they had formed, he didn't have the strength to, either.

And suddenly, he was reminded that before all this had happened, he hadn't only enjoyed the company of the other boy immensely, but that he had actually looked forward to his visits to the point of waking up a bit happier, just because he knew he'd see him.

Somehow, he had gotten to the point of _needing_ this.

The brunet obviously misinterpreted his silence, since he started once again, the desperation a bit more prominent in his voice. 'Please, Draco-'  
>'Didn't I tell you that you're not going to get everything you want just by using my name?', the former Death-eater interrupted him, smirk in place.<p>

'W-What?', the Golden Boy spluttered, looking utterly confused. The blonde understood why; he would have reacted the same way. The thing was, if he wouldn't make clear he forgave the other in this manner, he would get incredibly sappy, and he couldn't have that. So sarcastic, it was.

'However, I think I can make an exception…', he continued, still smirking, waiting for the other understand what he was talking about.

'You mean you…forgive me?', the raven-haired wizard asked slowly after a minute, not sure he had drawn the right conclusion.

This time, the ex-Slytherin settled for something much simpler: 'Yes.'

* * *

><p>It only took this one, little word to lift a weight off Harry's shoulders which had dragged him down for almost a week now.<p>

'Really?', he asked not quite believing it yet. It felt so strange, the other suddenly forgiving him. What exactly he had done to deserve this, he didn't know, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

'Really. But…' his voice changed, grew more silent and sorrowful, 'In the long run, it won't matter much, though.'

The brunet felt his heart drop, 'Why?'

'Well, how could this work? I bear the Dark Mark, while you are the Golden Boy, saviour of the magical world. I'm lucky if people tolerate me, while they love you to bits, and it is common knowledge that we spent years trying to basically _kill _each other. We can't really walk around now, declaring that we have magically overcome our differences, can we?'

He looked both angry and unhappy when he ended, as if he had just realized what this meant at that very moment.

'That's not true', the other replied after a second small smile appearing on his face when he saw the blonde's surprised look, 'I've told my friends and Ginny about you. Or rather about us.'

It was obvious that, whatever answer Draco had expected, it hadn't been this. For a second he just stared at the visitor, before asking, 'You…you have? How did they react? They don't…hold it against you?'

'Well', Harry chuckled, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice, 'Ron wasn't exactly pleased, to say it nicely, but the others are both fine with it. Actually, it was Hermione who convinced me to come here once more. And…I am really happy I listened to her.'  
>'Me too', the former Death-eater responded, flushing slightly, 'And I'm glad your friends accepted this so easily, since otherwise…'<p>

'What would have happened?'

The fair-haired boy looked directly at him, eyes emotionless except for a tiny trace of defeat. 'Otherwise we would have parted ways again, of course.'  
>For one second, anger flared up in Harry, because the other one did so obviously not value himself as much as he should've, but then was replaced by something softer and closer to concern.<p>

'We wouldn't have. I can't believe you really think I would give', for a second he wanted to say _you_, 'this up so easily. If you believe it or not, I actually like being with you; like _you_. And I would never let others interfere when it comes to my choices who to be friends with. Although I know we are not there yet', he hurriedly added.

The ex-Slytherin did not respond, but the raven-haired wizard could see that he was fighting hard not to break into a brilliant smile. He looked into silver eyes and saw gratitude, happiness and hope.

And then, suddenly, he noticed something else, and it took his breath away, for there, barely obvious was _trust_ etched into his gaze; something he had never truly seen in the former Death-eater, not even on the day their fight had started.

For a second, the brunet stayed silent, gathering up the courage he needed for his next question.  
>'Can I…hug you? Just for a second?', he asked shyly, blushing a little.<p>

Draco looked at him, shock so evident in his stare, the Boy Who Lived Twice already wanted to apologize for making such a silly request, when he answered quietly, flushing in the process, 'Fine.'

A little smile on his face, the ex-Gryffindor stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around his former nemesis so carefully as if he expected the other boy to break. His smile widened when he felt the other respond to his touch, slowly embracing him as well and resting his head on the raven-haired wizard's shoulder. The weight felt nice, reassuring even, and involuntarily he closed his eyes and tightened his hold on the fair-haired boy, leaning onto him a bit more.

It was only now that Harry was sure he hadn't made a mistake by his question; it appeared that the blonde had needed this just as much as he had. Because this simple, friendly gesture assured both of them that the other wouldn't just vanish; that this was going to last, whatever odds there would be.

During the next week, Harry spent as much time as possible at the other boy's place, often only coming home to sleep. It felt as if he had to make up for the time they had lost because of their silly fight.

Also, something strange had happened on his second visit: Draco Malfoy had apologized.

They had been sitting in some room of the Mansion he had never seen before (the brunet secretly believed that the ex-Slytherin was just trying to show off the estate to him) when the fair-haired boy had suddenly spoken.

'I'm sorry', he had said quietly.

'What?', he had replied confused.

'I am sorry for overreacting…you know, two weeks ago. The whole fight we got in, it's my fault.'

'It doesn't matter-', the Boy Who Lived had started, only to be interrupted.

'It does, because I acted like a complete git and you deserve to know why', he had cleared his throat, 'As you have surely guessed, I am not used to having real friends. Not that I already consider you as such, but I suppose we could get there eventually', he had added glancing at the raven-haired boy.

'So, when we actually started to act civil towards each other, it was strange, but not unpleasant. To be completely honest, I enjoyed it…a lot', the blonde had blushed, refusing to look at his guest. 'However, when you hesitated back there, it hurt, since I thought that you didn't think didn't care as much as I do. And I just panicked. And…I am sorry; I should have bloody _thought_ before I acted.'

It had been a strange feeling, having Draco Malfoy apologizing to him, and the brunet hadn't been quite sure if he had liked it. It just had been so completely unlike the boy he had been before the war, and it had made him look even more vulnerable and broken.

A small cough had brought Harry back to reality.

'I know I am not really an expert when it comes to this, but aren't you supposed to say something?', the fair-haired wizard had asked quietly, blushing once more. It was only then, that the Golden Boy had realized he had stayed silent for far too long.

'Sorry, I just…spaced out. Like I said before, it doesn't matter. I figured that you weren't used to this and…oh, can we just not talk about this? I'm just happy we left that behind us.'

Draco had smiled and looked _oh so relieved_, while the other had tried to find out why exactly the warmth which had appeared in his stomach was so overwhelming.

He hadn't noticed that he barely spent any time with his girlfriend anymore, until she pointed it out one evening. She had waited for him at his flat when he got home from the pub where he had had dinner and a couple of drinks with the blonde boy, looking just a tiny bit less sweet than usually.

'Hey', he greeted her, plopping down on the sofa next to her, 'What's up?'

'Nothing much', she answered, 'I just wanted to talk to you.'  
>'What about?'<p>

'Harry', she leaned a bit closer, putting her hand on the brunet's thigh, 'We hardly see each other anymore. And if we do, it's because I come here and wait until you return from _his_ Manor, or from the pub you've been to, with _him_ or whatever _you two_ have done. I'm happy that you've finally overcome this fight, but you can't spend all of your time with him. I'm your girlfriend; I want to be with you. And I want you to want that too.' She looked at him intently and the Golden Boy gave her the answer she wanted to hear, not the one he wanted to give.

'I'm sorry; I didn't realize that…I suppose it was just because I was so happy we were back on talking terms. But you're right, like always. How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?'

She smiled, but somehow the warmth it caused didn't reach your heart.

They went out that night, just like Harry had promised, to a Taiwanese restaurant close to the flat. It turned out to be a wonderful choice, since not only the food was good, but it also gave them something to reminisce about: A year ago, they had had their first real date here. And although the brunet hadn't thought of it at all, Ginny was touched by his supposedly sweet gesture and completely forgot about everything else in an instant. However, while his girlfriend was obviously enjoying herself a lot, the Golden Boy wasn't so much. There wasn't anything specific putting him off, just a constant nagging feeling that somehow this wasn't quite…_right_. But since he couldn't place it, he ignored it, as well as the occasional thought of blonde hair and grey eyes and drowned in the redhead's happy chatter.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was sitting at home, trying very hard to make a choice. Since they were back on speaking terms (he still refused to call the brunet <em>friend<em>), Harry had become rather affectionate towards him, always trying to make sure that he didn't anger or hurt the other by his actions. Now, the blonde was definitely not getting tired of the discreet glances or the small, gentle smiles; the problem was something else: He was feeling himself become more attached to the Boy Who Lived Twice by the minute.

He had accepted the fact that this did not necessarily have to be a negative thing, but in case he was going to let it happen, willingly, it would mean leaving behind the way he had lived until then.

Hiding his face in his hands, he groaned. Was he really willing to do this? He wasn't sure. But then, lifting his head at last, his gaze fell on a folded red jumper -_Gryffindor red,_ he thought mildly disgusted- which the raven-haired wizard had handed him the day before when noticing he was cold. Still not having lost all of his pride, he hadn't accepted it first, but Harry had insisted until he at last, had given up and put it on. He had forgotten to give it back, only realizing his mistake after he had closed the door and wondered about the amused twinkle in the brunet's eyes. And although he had known he should have taken it off immediately and rushed after the other, he hadn't. In fact, he had only removed it when he had finally gone to bed a few hours later.

Upon seeing the piece of clothing once more, a smile formed slowly on his lips. Maybe he had been ready all along.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Once more, thanks to _theghostinside_ and _superioritycomplex144_, as well as to _vampire5596_, _Insomiak_ and my sister. Also, I'm really, really sorry that this chapter is so terribly short, I'll promise to hurry with the next one to make up for it (: _

* * *

><p>Ten days after his talk with Ginny Harry was slowly growing a bit tired of spending time with his girlfriend. He still cared for her -and if he hadn't known Hermione probably would've thought her the single most wonderful girl in the entire world- but he had barely seen anyone else since the redhead had expressed her dissatisfaction with him visiting Draco several times a week. Once, he had managed to meet up with Neville and Seamus for a butterbeer, Hermione had come over for tea twice (still, she stayed only for half an hour, since Ron was obviously still furious), but apart from that, all his time was spent with the ginger. And although he did not want to follow thoughts of that kind, he did not only start to long for a bit of solitude but also for the presence of a particular boy he had caught himself thinking of a bit too often during the past days.<p>

He wondered when exactly he had allowed Draco Malfoy to take up such great space in his life.

It concerned him slightly, but in the end he gave up and found himself on the steps of Malfoy Manor once more. However, what worried him even more was that his girlfriend didn't know about it. Admittedly, he hadn't really _lied_ to her, but hadn't told her the truth either; just that he was busy, and thus not able to visit Luna with her that afternoon. He would've liked to see the blonde girl again, but he figured he'd just invite her over another time. At that moment, Draco was more important.

Thus, he rang the bell and waited, willing his heartbeat to slow down. Why it had sped up anyway, he didn't know, but before he had time to contemplate, the door opened, revealing a house-elf instead of the fair-haired boy who usually greeted him. For a second, fear crept up in him, as he was reminded of the one other occasion where he was welcomed in a similar manner, but the feeling was washed away when the obviously surprised elf just stepped aside when recognising the brunet.

'Master Draco is currently in the salon, if you would like to join him.'

Harry nodded and thanked him before rushing past. By now, he knew his way around the house, which was why getting to said room took only about a minute.

He took a second to collect himself, before practically bursting in, catching the blonde by surprise.

'What are you doing here?'

'Ah, I would have hoped you'd be a bit happier to see me', the ex-Gryffindor answered in a playful tone; although he couldn't deny that there was a certain portion of truth in the statement. Deep down, he was worried that maybe the other would be mad for him not turning up for more than a week.

However, instead of shouting, sneering or insulting him, the former Death-eater stared at him for a moment, before replying in a tone which was far less playful than it should have been, 'Actually, I am.'

A smile split Harry's face in two, while his heart sped up once more. 'Yeah, me too.'

His host motioned for him to sit down, and they sat in comfortable silence for a minute, before the brunet asked what he had been on his mind since he had arrived: 'Why are you here? I thought you hated the salon.'

One moment, he looked thoughtful, before slowly responding, 'I do. But sometimes…sometimes it feels right to be here after all. Since I don't want to forget about everything I've been through.'

'You don't?'  
>He thought for a moment before replying, 'Although the war's definitely been the worst time of my life, it still changed me so much, and for the better, I think, that I don't want to just erase it from my memory. And even though this is going to sound terrible, if all this wouldn't have happened, we probably would never have overcome our differences.' And if the Golden Boy wasn't completely mistaken, his cheeks were tinted slightly pink.<p>

'I'm glad about that, too…but I can't agree with you about the first bit. Not ever.'

'And here comes your hero complex again', the other said, smirking almost teasingly.

'Well, can't change that, I'm afraid.'

'It's good then that I've decided to give up trying, isn't it?'  
>A smile followed before Harry finally remembered that he had something completely different to say as well. 'By the way, I'm really sorry for not coming over so long. You see, Ginny was complaining about me spending too little time with her and well…I couldn't really tell her off', he chuckled, and it sounded a bit nervous, even to his own ears.<p>

'It's okay, I understand.'  
>'That's it?'<br>'What did you expect me to do?', Draco looked at him in bewilderment.

'I don't know. Something about me being a git, or how you didn't miss me anyway, I suppose.'

'Well…the first thing is true to an extend, but since you are obviously aware of it, pointing it out isn't really necessary-'  
>'Which doesn't stop you most of the time, though.'<p>

'You have no idea, Harry, how often I'd like to say it and don't. Anyway, I just figured that you wanted to put some distance between the two of us again, since we have spent a lot of time together before.'

The brunet was stunned. There was barely emotion in the other's voice and somehow, him being so nonchalant about it didn't quite fit.

'Nah, not at all. I enjoy spending time here, but well, I couldn't really turn her down…you know how she is', he quickly replied, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

'Actually, I don't. At least not more than that she's got ginger hair, is your best friend's sister and that I probably wouldn't like her very much. But that I know only because she's a Weasley. You don't really talk about her much.'

The raven-haired boy was surprised, to say at least, but when thinking back, he noticed that he really did not talk a lot about his girlfriend. Probably it was because talking about her with the other male did feel kind of inappropriate, although he was not able to figure out why that was. There just was the feeling that mixing these two worlds, the one with Draco and the one with Ginny in it, wouldn't lead to something good for all parties.

'She's really pretty and no matter how much it pains me, slightly taller than me', he started, feeling slightly uneasy, 'Also, she's incredibly sweet, caring and clever. And she's quite brave; helped fighting Death-eaters and stuff.' To his horror, it became hard after that. Surely, he knew how Ginny drank her tea (with milk and an insane amount of sugar), but that information hardly mattered. Luckily, the blonde choose not to note how trivial his chatter quickly became, but the realisation struck Harry hard, though. Apparently, he didn't know the ginger enough to talk about her for more than five minutes.

When he finally stopped rambling, he lifted his gaze up, fully expecting to see Draco looking somewhat amused about his obvious failure to talk about his own bloody girlfriend, but instead his host was looking almost thoughtful. However, what was even more surprising than the other not making fun of him (because although they had buried the hatchet now, he still enjoyed that immensely) was that, sitting there, he looked positively…_beautiful_.

There was no other way of describing it.

His collar had fallen open, revealing a pale neck and just the hint of a collarbone, while the warm light radiating from the fireplace illuminated him in the most exquisite manner, making his skin look like porcelain, his silver eyes shine and glitter. One single strand of his silky-looking hair had fallen into his face, a long, elegant finger rested on lips, which looked as if the boy had just chewed on them: Slightly wet and rose-tinted.

However, the most stunning thing was the look in the Draco's eyes, which was solely fixed on Harry and so intense he could almost feel it burn through him.

He blinked, half hoping, half fearing that the image would vanish, but it was in vain; his throat tightened and went dry, so when he tried to speak, no word came out. The only thing he could do was continue to stare at the fair-haired wizard in front of him. Luckily, he did not have enough strength left to move, otherwise he surely would've reached out and brushed the tress of platinum-blonde hair from his forehead, maybe even risen and sat next to the other, seeing if he could count the white-tipped eyelashes.

The spell was broken when Draco started to speak, looking as if he didn't quite know if it was the right thing to do, 'I…I think you should be going.'

The line felt like a direct hit to the stomach.

'Have I done anything wrong?', he asked a bit shaky.

'What?'

'Because you want me to leave; there's got to be something I did, right?'

'No, not at all', the other looked almost a bit amused and Harry didn't understand a thing, 'The thing is just, you said you had a date with your girlfriend in about…five minutes, and I suppose you don't want to be late, do you?'

The brunet couldn't remember a time when he had felt more stupid than in this very moment. He had mentioned meeting up with Ginny later about twenty minutes ago and still, he had just _forgotten_ about it.

'Oh…right.'

'Don't tell me you've forgotten.' The blonde boy's look grew more amused by the second.

'I won't tell you, then.' He got up awkwardly, almost knocking over the chair he had been sitting in in the process, 'I suppose I'll see you, right?'

'Fine with me', the former Death-eater half-smiled, 'Just…when do you think you'll drop by again?'

The sudden interest surprised him, usually Draco never asked when he'd come back. There was a strange flutter in his chest when he thought that it sounded as if the other wanted him to come back as soon as possible.

'Well, I don't think I'll be able to make it tomorrow, but maybe the day afterwards. I at least hope so.' Harry tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it turned out just the tiniest bit desperate.

'And…will you tell her where you're going? Or are you going to lie again?'

Of course, the raven-haired wizard had noticed when he told the other, that he hadn't liked that the brunet hadn't told his girlfriend where he was going, but he hadn't known it was bothering him that much.

'I'll tell her. After all, she cannot expect that I give you up all together, right?'

And the half-smile on Draco's lips turned into a full one.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Okay, I admit I wasn't really fast with updating, but to make up for it, it's the longest chapter until now- I hope it's enough to make you forgive me (: _

_And like every time, thanks to _theghostinside_ and _superioritycomplex144_ for making my days a bit brighter, as well as to everyone else reading this. You guys are brilliant!_

Over the next weeks, he didn't see many people, either, except for Ginny and a certain fair-haired boy, but this time it was because of his own choice. Somehow going to the pub with Seamus and Dean didn't sound so alluring, when he knew that he could just as well spend another evening at Malfoy Manor doing…well, actually, the doing-part wasn't interesting at all. Just being there was more than enough. Or more specifically, being there with Draco.

However, when Hermione asked him over for tea, he couldn't just say no, because she was his best friend, and whatever excuse he could've thought of, she would have looked through it anyway.

So he arrived exactly on time, carrying a tray of biscuits from his girlfriend just a few metres from his best friends' flat away, and before he knew he was almost knocked over by the brown-haired girl who had obviously just been waiting for him.

'Harry! I'm so glad you came!', she greeted him, voice muffled by his scarf.

'I'm happy to see you, too' he smiled, handing her the cookies as soon as she pulled away. 'They're from Ginny. She told me to say hi.'  
>'Tell her thanks; she always knew how much I loved her baking. Oh, sorry, you must be cold! Why haven't you put on that jumper I gave you last Christmas? Don't tell me you already lost it! Harry James-'<p>

'I haven't, Hermione, just relax', he answered grinning at her chatter, 'It's just currently…unavailable.'  
>'You gave it to Ginny?'<br>'What? No. To Draco. Which reminds me that he actually ought to have given it back some time ago…'

His friend looked at him thoughtfully, before mumbling something he couldn't quite make out. 'How long has he had it?'

'A few weeks or so; I think.'  
>Hermione's eyes widened a little at the statement, 'That long?'<br>'Yup. Why do you want to know?'

'Oh, no special reason', she answered before starting to mutter to herself again.

'I really don't want to disturb you with whatever great secret of humankind you are about to discover, but could we go in? Because I'm really starting to get cold and Draco'd kill me if I got sick now. He's dragging me to some theatre tomorrow evening.'

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't question, instead motioned him to follow her to the flat.

'So, you and Malfoy are getting along well, I presume?', she asked as innocently as possible while setting a cup in front of Harry.

'We are. Even better than before we fought; it's kind of hard to believe that we used to despise each other. He still does sneer and make snide comments sometimes, but that's just part of him. Wouldn't change it, it'd be kind of strange if he stopped it altogether, I suppose.' Unknowingly, he smiled in a manner which could only be described as affectionate. Hermione, of course, noticed.

'Sometimes, I wonder if it could've been like this all of the time, if I had just taken his hand back in the first year. But then again, it doesn't really matter, because I can't change it anyway and it's wonderful the way it is. Just…maybe I could've helped him stand up against his parents…He seems so lonely sometimes. A couple of days ago, for example, we went to a pub-'

Harry could barely hide his excitement when talking about his new-found friend and the girl didn't have the heart to stop him. Instead she pretended to still be listening, while thinking everything over once more. The more she heard about Draco Malfoy, and the more she listened to her friend's enthusiastic description, the better it fit together. She desperately hoped the conclusion she had drawn to be wrong, for it had the potential to ruin very close to _everything_, but she knew from experience that the probability of that happening was rather low.

Inwardly, she groaned, hoping that Harry wouldn't notice her distress.

He did, of course, asking what was wrong with her.

'Nothing. Now, where were you again?', she lied, hoping he wouldn't notice, which he didn't because he was far to busy telling her more about his latest visit at Malfoy Manor.

Half an hour later, his chatter suddenly came to a halt when a certain ginger boy struck his head through the door, greeting his girlfriend before even noticing the other. When he did, however, no word left his mouth, instead he just glared.

Harry glared back, finding that he didn't regret a word he had said the last time he had seen Ron.

'What are you-', the redhead started, before Hermione interrupted him, not sounding all too kind.

'Ronald Weasley, isn't there anything you wanted to say to Harry? Something important?'

He looked at her helplessly, a clear _Do I have to?_ written across his face, but the gaze she returned held no compassion whatsoever.

'I'm sorry for what happened; I shouldn't have reacted in that way when you told us about your friendship with Malfoy. It was inappropriate and childish and surely upset you, since it must have been hard to tell us all along.'

A large grin had appeared on Harry's face; the words his best friend was reciting were so clearly Hermione's, and Ron looked so incredibly miserable that he couldn't really go on being angry at him.

'It's okay. Actually, your reaction was _just_ what I expected.'

The ginger groaned in relief, 'Thanks, mate. She's been nagging me to do this for ages.'

'I can imagine.'

'Guys', the girl interrupted them, 'There actually was something I wanted to discuss with both of you.'

'Spit it out, then', the brunet told her happily. It was a great relieve to have settled things with Ron; he hated fighting with the other boy after all they had been through and fighting because of this had felt even worse. Why, he didn't quite know; somehow it had felt as if something incredibly valuable was at stake.

'Well, I've been thinking…since Harry is now on friendly terms with Malfoy, we obviously should make an effort to get to know him a bit better too. After all, it could be that you both get to know each other even more…', she looked over to the raven-haired wizard, 'intimately. So I thought we could invite him to dinner next week, with Harry. You can bring Ginny too, obviously.'  
>The look on the ginger's face was priceless: A mix of pure mortification, incredulity and uncertainty if his girlfriend was joking or barking mad.<p>

'Can you please tell me that you just lost your mind and I should get you to St. Mungo's?', he croaked after he had found his voice again, 'Because if you don't, I'm afraid I've got to start screaming.'

'Ron, stop acting like a complete idiot. Of course, I'm not insane. I just think that we should respect our friend's choices and try to support him.'

'I don't want to have that ferr- _Malfoy_ in our house! Why do we have to support each crazy choice he makes? You're acting as if he was Harry's boyfriend!', from one minute to the other, the boy went pale, as a terrible idea popped into his head. He whipped around facing his friend, 'He isn't, right?'

And then something happened, that the brunet couldn't quite explain: He hesitated. Just for a moment, really, but still.

Hermione noticed it too, while Ron _thankfully_ was, like so often, completely oblivious. Deep down, he knew he'd have to explain it some day, although he had no idea how.

'No, of course not! What the hell did give you that idea? In case you've forgotten I'm dating your sister!'

Not only had he hesitated, his words also sounded by far not forceful enough. After all, his best friend had just practically asked him if he was gay! He should have been outraged, horrified, frustrated, confused at how the other could possibly have mistaken their friendship for something more, disgusted at the thought of having a sexual relationship with another male, but he couldn't find even one of those emotions within him.

And the strangest thing was, it didn't even scare him.

'Ah, yeah, sorry mate. Didn't mean that, 'Mione's accepting-your-choices- talk just freaked me out a bit', Ron did sound appropriately embarrassed, and the Golden Boy decided to forget about emotions and those things, in order to set his mind to more important tasks.

'Are you sure you want this?', he asked the girl who had been watching the scene with mild amusement and a look as if she knew something he didn't. 'I don't expect you to like Draco or anything, and I'm sure he doesn't either.'

'Nonsense. He's your friend, so I'm pretty sure he's at least…somewhat acceptable. Believe me, I've thought this over numerous times, since I actually didn't want to see his face _ever _again after the war ended. And my wonderful boyfriend', she looked at the ginger, who was mumbling angrily to himself, annoyance prominent in her gaze, 'will surely get over it, too.'  
>Once more he testingly glanced at Hermione, he replied, 'I can't promise he'll come, though.'<p>

She just shrugged, 'If he doesn't, it'll be his loss.'

'They want _what_?'  
>'They want you to come over for dinner. On Tuesday', Harry answered trying hard to sound as casual as possible.<p>

'…what kind of photos are they? Or do you have video tapes?', the blonde asked after a second.

'What?'  
>'Well, obviously you have evidence of something very, very horrible they've done and are blackmailing them. Can't imagine you actually threatening your precious friends. Anyway, I'm rather disappointed in you- you really should have been in Slytherin.'<p>

'You think I'm _blackmailing_ my two best friends?' He looked at him incredulously.

'No other explanation, is there? After all, why should the Weasel and the muggleborn want to have me in their home?'

The Golden Boy buried face in his hands. 'Sometimes I just can't believe you. Of course I'm not- wait a second.' Looking up again, he scrutinized the other boy, 'You didn't call her mudblood.'

The words shocked Draco, not only because he had actually missed out on a chance to insult the former prefect, but also, mostly, because it confirmed what he had known for some time: He had changed.

Since he had been a child, Lucius Malfoy's words had been his rules to live by, under all circumstances, and the older male had always been fairly clear on the way muggleborn were to be treated, and those instructions did not include showing them any respect or considering having dinner with them.

Defying these rules meant finally admitting that his father had been wrong. And if he had been wrong about this, it was suddenly possible for him to be wrong about other things as well, and the thought of it frightened the blonde.

However, there was no way in hell he would've told Harry; the other knew a frightening lot about him already.

'And? It means the same thing', he answered instead, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

'Whatever you say', the brunet replied, and it was clear he didn't believe one word. 'Anyway, are you going to come now, or not?'

'Do you want me to?'

'Of course I want you to! After all you're my friend, just as they are and there's no thing in the world I'd want more than for you to get along.'

The former Death-eater looked at him thoughtfully for a second, seemingly battling with himself over something important, then, biting his lip he said, 'Okay. But only under one condition.'

'Which one?'  
>'Next time we'll see each other… I'll come over to yours, not the other way round.'<p>

'You…want to come over to my flat?'

Draco nodded slowly, 'You've been here so often, but I never got to see how you live. And I'd like to know.'

'Sure.'

The blonde's face lit up. 'Really? I thought you'd put up more of a fight.'

'It's fine with me, really.'

'When do I have to be there, then?'

'Seven. But if you want to, we can go together, that way you won't end up sitting around on your own.'

'Thank you. I think that'd be quite good…if you don't want me to murder the Weasel', he smirked.

'Ah, I'd rather keep him alive, if you don't mind. You could've asked two weeks ago and maybe I'd have agreed to hurting him severely', he grinned, adding, 'You know what, Draco?'

'Hm?'

'You could've just asked about coming over. I'd have liked that anyway.'

'Hey', Harry greeted him when they met up on Tuesday, a couple of streets away from Ron and Hermione's house, 'How are you feeling? Nervous?'

The blonde only scoffed. 'A Malfoy is not nervous.'

The other, however, did not believe his façade for a second. Draco's hands were twitching slightly, and every five seconds, a finger went upwards to brush a straying strand of hair out of his face. Also, his clothes made it rather obvious he had put a lot of thought in them: A pair of neatly pressed, dark grey pants with matching vest, a white shirt, whose material clung to his upper body in the most attractive way and a silken tie with green and silver stripes. Still the proud Slytherin, Harry thought amused, glad he had found something to take his mind off the fact that the fair-haired male looked absolutely stunning.

'You're completely freaking out, now aren't you?'

A sigh escaped the former Death-eater's lips. 'Yes. I've got the feeling that Weasley is going to rip me into little pieces, and I actually enjoy my current form rather much.'

'It's not going to be that bad…Ron's surely not going to kill you; Hermione wouldn't let him. It might get him into prison and spoil her carpet. Blood stains are such a bother to get out again.'

'I always suspected that Granger was the man in the relationship', he smirked and Harry knew he had successfully taken the mind of the other boy off his nervousness, 'However, I was hoping that you'd come and rescue me from your insane best friend. After all, I'm your date for tonight', his eyes twinkled and although it was completely clear that there was nothing serious in his words, the brunet's heart skipped a beat.

'Of course I would. My goddamn hero complex wouldn't allow anything else.'

'Touché', Draco replied chuckling, 'Although it is of course a great relief to know that the Golden Boy is prepared to come and save me.'

The raven-haired wizard blushed the tiniest bit, but the look on the other boy's face made it clear he had noticed.

'Anyway, we're here', he said suddenly, causing the blonde to blanch.

The house was rather small, but pretty, with a red tiled roof and a tiny garden. Even from outside, you could see that the owners had put a lot of love into it, with the flowerpots in every corner, the red curtains whose edges were visible through the windows, and the warm light radiating from it.

'God, I really have to do this, right?', the fair-haired boy groaned while he followed Harry to the front door.

'Oh yes, you are. And don't you even think of apparating out of here.'

'I won't, I won't', he said, holding his hands up in defeat, 'Just, if I should die in there, remember, it's your fault and yours alone.'

The brunet laughed and rang the bell. 'I'll live with it…But really, just act the way you do around me, and everything will be perfectly fine.'

'That's something completely different', the blonde groaned, fixing his hair once more, 'If Weasley would disappear from one moment to the other, I wouldn't give a damn.'

'But you would if I did?' There it was again, the strange flutter in Harry's stomach.

'Well, obviously', he answered, looking incredulously at his companion, 'What did you think?'

'Nothing much', he chuckled a little bit embarrassed, 'Oh wait.' Turning to the other boy again, he had noticed that his tie was crooked just the slightest bit.

'I'll help you with that', he said, reaching out in the exact moment Hermione opened the door. Both boys shied away from each other at the same time, blushing. The gesture had been a perfectly innocent one, sure, but it still felt wrong when someone else was there. She obviously had noticed it too, for she looked at them for a second with an unreadable expression on her face, before stepping forward to greet Harry with a hug, which looked close to painful to the other. He couldn't take his eyes of them, though, for he could still remember how it had felt to have the brunet's arms around him.

After a few seconds, the girl pulled away and smiled. 'Hi Harry. I'm glad you've come', turning to her other visitor, the smile not nearly as prominent anymore she said, 'Hello, Malfoy.'

Taking a deep breath, the fair-haired wizard answered, 'Hello. And please, call me Draco if that is alright with you.'

The surprise was evident in her gaze as she studied the male intently. 'You can call me Hermione then.' She held out her hand, which he took and pressed lightly against his lips, before flashing the stunned girl a, as he hoped, charming smile.

'I'd be delighted to.'  
>He noticed the surprised look the girl wore as she stepped aside to let them in, hoping it meant something good he walked passed her. From the corner of his eye he could see her asking Harry something in a voice so quiet he couldn't hear a thing. For a second he contemplated asking him about it, before deciding against it: There was no reason to let the other boy know he actually cared about how his friends thought of him. It was pathetic enough as it was.<p>

Instead he went on until he reached the living room, in which a blonde girl was currently sitting, playing absentminded with her hair. While he was still trying to remember who she was, he felt the brunet rushing past him, embracing her.

'Luna! How are you? Haven't seen you for ages!', he exclaimed when letting her go again, smile firmly fixed on his face.

'Hello Harry', she replied, voice soft and dreamy, 'I am fine, thank you. You are well yourself, I hope.'

'Yeah, I'm okay', he laughed, 'By the way, I've brought Draco over.'

The girl turned to face the other male, expression surprised, but not hostile, which surprised him. 'Hello to you too.'

The former Death-eater took a deep breath, 'Good evening. You must be Luna Lovegood; it's a pleasure to meet you', he smiled at her and held out his hand, which she, after a moment, gingerly shook, 'I hope you don't mind me asking, but isn't your father running The Quibbler? I'm just asking because there was this fascinating article about ogres once, and I always wondered…'

Harry turned away smiling, and made his way to the kitchen. It was strange to see his fair-haired friend interacting so charmingly with people he would only have laughed at a year ago; strange but fascinating. Also, the thought that he was the reason Draco was trying so hard let a smile appear on his face when he opened the door. Inside, Ginny and Ron were seated around the table, while Hermione was busy stirring and cutting and cursing different ingredients.

'Hey', he greeted and let himself fall onto one of the chairs, 'How are you guys?'

The brown-haired girl just nodded in his direction before returning to viciously crushing something that he hoped were herbs; his girlfriend leaned over to give him a short kiss, before answering with a simple 'Fine'. Only his best friend didn't reply right away, instead shot him an angry glare.

'Is _he_ here?'

'If you mean Draco, yes he is. He's in the living room, chatting with Luna.'

'Well, I suppose that answers your question', Ron answered, looking even more furious, if possible.

'Merlin, can't you just get over it?' Harry had no interest whatsoever in repeating their fight once more, but knew that he would if necessary.

'No, I can't! Not if the guy I spent years hating is sitting in my bloody living room!'

'Ron', came Hermione's voice from the stove. The word had clearly been meant as a warning, and the ginger shut up immediately. Harry made a mental note to ask the girl later what kind of tactic she had used to achieve this.

'Anyway, before you kill each other, dinner's ready', she said a few seconds later, transporting the mass of plates on the table with a flick of her wand. 'Harry, would you be so kind and fetch the others?'

'Sure', the brunet replied, happy to get out of the room for a moment- the tension between him and Ron wouldn't have lead to anything good.

Entering the room, he was pleasantly surprised to see Luna and Draco still talking; if he wasn't completely mistaken the ex-Slytherin even seemed to be enjoying himself.

'Hey guys, Hermione sent me. Dinner's ready.'

He smiled when the blonde boy motioned him to wait a second and said earnestly, 'It's been surprisingly nice talking to you, Luna.'

'Thank you. I liked it too, I never knew you were so interested in thestrals. … Maybe we can go and feed them someday. Father knows a place near our home where a group lives. I'm sure they'd like you. ' The girl gave him a lopsided, dreamy smile, got up and walked over to the door, bounce clearly visible in her steps.

'Is she always like this?', the male asked after he had stood up himself, astonishment written on his face as he stared after her.

'Oh yes, she is', the other answered grinning, 'Anyway, I never knew you were familiar with the Quibbler.'

'Familiar is probably not the right word for it', he replied, amusement evident in his voice, 'Someone forgot a copy in the Slytherin common room a few times and I picked them up when I was close to dying from boredom. I never knew I could be this happy about it one day. But apart from that, am I doing alright? Because I'd really, really like to make it out of here alive.' A bit of nervousness had seeped into Draco's voice and his fingers moved back to brushing strands of hair from his face.

It made Harry smile, but the blonde obviously misinterpreted it.

'That bad, really? Merlin…'

'No, no, you're doing fine', the Golden Boy hurried, 'Luna definitely seemed to be having a good time, and Hermione even asked me where and when you had learned to be so charming. And she said that she could understand why I liked you when you acted that way around me all the time. Although I sadly had to tell her you didn't.'

There was a strange sparkle in the fair-haired wizards eyes and a playful smile on his lips when he replied, 'What, are you jealous, Harry? Do you want me to kiss your hand too, the next time we see each other?'

'Y-You know just as well as I do that this was not what I meant', he stuttered, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks. For a second, he cursed Draco Malfoy to hell and back again.

'Do I? I wonder…' and he turned around and sauntered over to the kitchen.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hi there! I'm very, very sorry for not updating so long, this chapter was harder to write than anything before. Anyway, I'm really glad it's finished and I hope you like it..._

_And like each and every time, I send all my love to _theghostinside_, _superioritycomplex144_, but this time as well to _Anakaraya Ravenclaw_, _hoperocks98_ and _RoibenJazz_. Thank you all at least one million times, you make me so happy (:_

'And you really did this all by yourself?'; Harry asked while piling mashed potatoes next to his roast beef, 'Without using magic?'

The brown-haired girl nodded, 'My mother taught me how to cook this …It just felt right, doing it the same way as she did.'

There was sadness in her voice and he regretted saying anything. Understandably, Hermione was still hurt by the loss of her parents, even though it clearly had been the best way to keep them save and she could still see them from time to time. In secret, the brunet wasn't so sure if this was a good thing since she had appeared even worse after each visit, reminded of the fact that they had forgotten ever having a daughter.

'It's delicious', he said quickly, smiling at her encouragingly.

'I've got to agree with Harry, it is quite good…Although I don't know much about Muggle food, of course', Draco agreed quietly, not looking all to comfortable when he felt everyone's eyes on him. Usually he wouldn't have minded, but here…after all he was supposed to make a good impression.

The group fell silent again, but the atmosphere was a little better, even if still a bit awkward, mostly because of the Weasley's hostile stares.

After a few minutes, Ginny, voice laced with false innocence, asked, 'Well, Malfoy, I haven't seen you since we've been in school together. How are you doing? And how are your parents?'

The gladness Harry had felt at first when the ginger had started talking to his former nemesis subsided in the matter of moments, only to be replaced by fury. Ginny knew that Draco's father had been sent to prison, he had seen it in her eyes when she had asked; the only reason for bringing it up had been hurting the boy in front of her. He never would've thought she could be so vicious.

The blonde male looked up, obviously surprised but calm and neither particularly angry nor offended, 'I am quite alright, thank you. It's been hard since my father's been sent to Askaban, but not unbearable. Still, because of this I do not know much about his state of mind; they only allow us to see him twice a year. And I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you much about my mother, although she mentioned being quite well in her last letter. She spends as little time as possible at the Manor now. It reminds her too much of what has happened, she says.'

He went silent and back to cutting his roast beef into small pieces, leaving everyone around the table stunned. None of them would've believed the boy would be willing to talk about what had happened to his family at all, let alone this freely, or without any evident anger in his voice. Even the brunet, who had listened closely, hadn't been able to track anything except for bitterness and sorrow in his tone.

They sat in silence for a while, no one knowing what to say, before Luna spoke up, her voice just the tiniest bit less dreamy than usual, 'But aren't you getting lonely, all by yourself?'

'Not really. I've got Harry coming over from time to time after all, and believe it or not, I actually managed to keep one or two of my friends from school.'

Ron muttered something into his butterbeer, which the blonde boy gladly pretended not to notice, 'And somehow I think that deciding for myself for once in my life, without being influenced might be a good thing, too.'  
>'Well', Hermione started after another pause, 'If someone would've told me one year ago that you'd sound mature at some point in your life, I'd have declared him mad. But obviously, they would've been right.'<p>

'That's quite the compliment from your mouth, isn't it? Still, what can I say? Being despised by people you've never met for something you never really wanted, or even for something your parents have done, it brings out strange sides of people.'

She studied him for a moment, before obviously deciding he didn't expect her to pity him and smiled a little when she said, 'You really have grown, haven't you? And changed. By the way, have you already decided what you want to do from now on?'

For the first time during dinner, there was a small smile playing on Draco's lips, when he answered, 'Well, it's nothing more than a dream at the moment, but I'd like to become a potions master. I've already applied for an internship at a university in South Wales.'

'Really? That's brilliant! You always were quite good at it back in school, weren't you? Maybe Harry should take you as an example; he hasn't done anything at all since the war.'

'That's not true! I thought about what I want in the future and came to the conclusion that it's not being an Auror after all. And anyway, I still think that I have deserved taking a break for once.'

'Sure you do, but a whole year? I just still can't believe that you gave that up so quickly…', Hermione shook her head, 'In my mind, I always saw you and Ron being partners. And now he isn't going to try it either.'

'Hermione, you know that George asked me to help him out with the shop and that there is no way I could leave him alone after what happened to Fred.'

She sighed, then said, 'I know, I know. It's just, I would have liked to say my boyfriend's an Auror.'

'I'd have liked that, too', Ginny suddenly spoke up, letting her eyes linger on the brunet, 'And I actually always thought it was what you wanted. You know, fighting Death-eaters and making the world a better place.' While talking, she had fixated Draco, mouth contorted to a scowl and disgust prominent in her gaze.

Harry felt everything around him being drowned in anger as soon as he registered his girlfriend's words. For one second he was unable to speak at all, his throat tightening to the point of pain, before he choked through gritted teeth, 'I know exactly what you are suggesting and it is not, in any way-'

He stopped in mid-sentence because the fair-haired boy next to him had laid aside his fork and slowly started to slide his sleeve up, revealing a pale arm marred with black ink. Looking at the ginger girl, he spoke quietly, but with determination in his voice, 'You mean this, don't you? I know exactly what I am, and even better what I have been. There's no way I could ever forget, not even with the help of the most powerful magic there is, since I've got this to always remind me of my past failures. However, I refuse to let the Dark Mark decide what will become of my future.'

With that he fell silent, slid down his sleeve once more and returned to his food; no one else dared to speak, if they still could. There was something terribly shocking about him being so open about himself, and not one of the five knew how to react. But while it frightened the others, the blonde's willingness to speak so freely about his past did nothing but impress Harry, as well as confirm once more that this Draco drastically differed from the person he had known in school.

Also, as soon as the boy had revealed the Mark, there had been this completely absurd desire to reach out and trace the outlines of the tattoo.

He pushed all thoughts of soft, milky skin and delicate wrists away, concentrating once more on Ginny's actions. Knowing that the girl was far from excited to meet his new friend, he had talked to her about it the evening before, and she had agreed to treat the boy at least in a neutral way. This, however, was far from it.

All in all, her stance towards Draco and their friendship had changed dramatically, and Harry blamed Ron at least partially for it. While she had been supportive and understanding at first, her lips now curled in repulsion when the male's name was mentioned and she made it very clear she was not interested to hear even a word about his visits at the Manor. Whenever he told her he was to meet the blonde later, her face grew stern and she looked at him with a mixture of anger, sadness and disgust. And he found that he cared less and less about her opinion.

The next few minutes was spent in awkward silence, with only Draco seemingly unfazed. Ginny tried to initiate eye contact several times, but he refused to look at her. It was surprising that he wasn't disappointed that she had broken her promise, only angry, and that the fury wasn't hot and passionate, but instead cold and far less personal than it should have been. In fact, it was hauntingly similar to the way he had reacted upon seeing a 'Potter Stinks'- button on a fellow Gryffindor for the first time, or when Crabbe or Goyle had once again tried to pick up a fight (not the way he had reacted when Draco had, with him it had always been intense and fierce).

And then, suddenly, it all made sense: Without noticing, he had fallen out of love with Ginny, the girl he had been expected to spend the rest of his life with.

The realization hit him hard; his vision blurred, his hand, still holding the fork started to tremble and something inside his chest tightened painfully. Since the beginning of their relationship he had known that, if he should end it one time, his friendship with Ron and the entire Weasley family would be at stake. However, then everyone had declared that the both of them were perfect for each other, that they'd surely marry and at one point he had started to believe them, even if he didn't know how they could be so sure. It wasn't like with Hermione and Ron, they hadn't been friends for ages before getting together; actually they had never been friends at all.

And now he could see that, though they had become lovers, there had never been a friendship binding them together.

Some of the fear he felt had to have reflected on his face because Hermione was looking at him concernedly from across the table and Luna asked if he was feeling unwell. Of course he did only shake his head and did his best to smile, but he doubted he did succeed with convincing them. From his left, he could feel Draco's questioning gaze, but he did not dare to look back.

The rest of the dinner passed painfully slowly, with Harry wanting nothing more than bolt and hide in some quiet and isolated room to sort out his feelings, or more specifically, his lack thereof. However, instead he sat through the entire thing, complementing Hermione on her cooking once more and promising Luna to meet her for lunch three days later, before, after shooting Draco a questioning look, excusing himself and the other boy. He almost didn't dare bending down to give Ginny a quick kiss, for it felt as if his faded love for her was written all across his face.

Somehow he made it outside, followed by the fair-haired boy, who grabbed his hand and spun him around the second the door was shut behind them.

'What is up with you, Harry. I've never seen you like this, especially not in front of your precious friends.'  
>There was concern prominent in his voice and look.<p>

'It's nothing…well, there is something, but I don't really want to talk about it', he corrected himself when it became clear the other wouldn't believe him, 'But anyway, what I wanted to ask you the whole time… How did you manage to stay so calm in there? I thought you'd kill them all.'  
>'What? Because of your girlfriend was –not very subtly by the way- trying to upset me? Believe me, I've heard worse things. And she was right after all.' He shrugged trying to look completely uninterested.<p>

'She bloody wasn't! Sometimes I really, really don't understand you at all. I know for a fact that you never wanted to become a Death-eater, at least not because you believed in what they wanted. You told me you didn't, so stop making yourself look worse than you are!'

Harry had hoped the blonde would react with at least a small amount of anger, to take his mind off of Ginny, but Draco stayed completely calm, once again sliding the sleeve of his shirt down his arm.

'I know it, you do and maybe there are ten people more in this world who know it too, but that doesn't change that as soon as someone sees this' he pointed at the tattoo, 'They assume I was very much in favour of the Dark Lord taking over. Thus, they react the way they do and I can't blame them. It's the logical conclusion. So, there's no reason to be mad at the Weaselette because of this.'

This time, the brunet couldn't hold himself back, his mind on different things, raised his hand and carefully traced the outlines of the Dark Mark against his friend's pale skin.

'What are you doing?', Draco asked, voice confused and shocked.

Harry chose to ignore the question and continued to let his fingertips slide across dark lines.

'It doesn't suit you', he said instead, voice coming out more softly than he wanted.

'What?'

'It doesn't fit you; it just looks so wrong.'  
>The other boy looked at him strangely, but didn't pull away his arm when he replied, 'Does it, now?'<p>

'It does…there's no way to remove it, I suppose.'

For a second, the blonde wanted to say something sarcastic, maybe even something mean, but then he saw the serious expression on his friend's face, and decided against it.

'There isn't.'

The Golden Boy looks up and there's something playful in his gaze, ' I know you're going to blame this on my damn hero complex again, but I wish I could make it vanish somehow.'

There was truth in the other's words, and because of it, Draco refrained from making a snide comment once more.

'I know', he stated simply, still not moving. The stroking on his arm had stilled, but a tanned finger still rested on the painted skull.

The touch was light and their eyes were fixated solely on each other, when suddenly they suddenly noticed that they should have let their arms sink long ago. They didn't, though and for a split second, there was something new in the air surrounding them; something sweet, tender and warm, something that surpassed everything they had felt for each other before. Unknowingly, they leaned in just the slightest bit, both heartbeats and breaths speeding up simultaneously.

The magic of the moment was broken when a car rushed by, sprinkling them with cold, dirty water and causing them to each take a hasty step away from the other, letting their limbs fall back into place.

Draco was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that followed. Clearing his throat he said, 'Anyway, I think I ought to get back to the Manor. See you around, right?'

The brunet just nodded, blinking dumbly when he watched his friend vanish into thin air.

When the platinum-blonde boy appeared in the middle of his living room, he was clutching his right arm to his chest. It felt as if Harry's touch had been burned into his skin; he could almost feel the soft strokes, the warmth of the other's fingertips. Sighing, he let himself fall back onto the next chair, as he willed his breathing to slow down again. He had felt something special back there, something which made his body tingle and his stomach to flutter, his hands shake and his heart pound so hard it hurt.

And it had felt so good, so real before that blasted car had brought him back to reality, while bringing back everything he had worked so hard to forget. And that meant that if Harry kept on touching him so casually, looking at him so fondly and smiling at him at every chance, it would get near impossible to conceal that he, in fact, was helplessly in love with the other boy.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: First of all, I'm terribly, terribly sorry about taking so long. I really tried, but after starting with university and six hours of maths a day I was too drained to write more than 200 words which made actual sense. And then again, I'm also terribly sorry that this chapter is so bloody short, but I didn't want to keep you waiting longer...I hope you'll forgive me._

_Like always (and I can't help but be both happy and proud that this list is getting longer and longer) I'd like to thank _theghostinside_, who I'd like to dedicate this chapter to for being wonderful as well as wonderfully helpful, _superioritycomplex144_, _Anakaraya Ravenclaw_, _RoibenJazz_, _trish_, _hoperocks_ and _gbheart_ for their wonderful comments. You make my days, guys (:_

When Harry woke up the next morning his head was hurting like hell, his eyes stung when met with the morning sun and his mouth was dry. The night before, he had lain awake until he could see the sun rise, thinking everything over and over again. It had paid off, though; he had finally come to a conclusion, even if it wasn't one he liked a lot: There was no way he could keep his relationship with Ginny up anymore, not after what he had discovered the night before. She simply didn't deserve it, not only because she was his best friend's sister, but also because he still cared for her. Not quite as a friend, and certainly not as a lover, but there was a little of the affection, a bit of the trust and definitely enough of respect for her left to make it clear he owed her at least that, after she had been so wonderfully sweet and caring towards him. Especially right after the war when he had needed someone to reassure him so badly, and his two best friends had been too wrapped up in their own world.

Somehow, it even _hurt_ him, not caring for her in that way anymore, since it had been one of the constants in the past; it felt like an era was ending and something new was starting at this very moment. And that was just as scary, if not even more so.

Slowly he rose, each joint cracking as he made his way to his kitchen, quickly brewing some strong coffee, which would hopefully help him through the day and with what he had planned next: Because although he knew, deep in his heart that his decision was the right one, he needed to talk to someone about it before taking the final step, and that someone was, of course, Hermione.

There was no one in the world he trusted quite as much as the brown-haired girl, not even Ron, and he knew that she'd understand, contrary to the ginger.

So, right after gulping down the too-hot liquid he went over to the house he had left only hours before by floo powder, knowing that her boyfriend wouldn't be in; at this time of day he was always helping George out with the shop.

'Hello?', he called into the empty room, as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace, 'Hermione?'

For a second, there was no reply, then a head appeared in the door to the kitchen. 'Who- Oh, Harry, it's you. What are you doing here?'. She asked confused, eyebrow slightly raised.

'Sorry, I should've called…but I really, really wanted to talk to you. I need some advice.' With a sheepish smile on his lips and his heart beating nervously, he looked at her, hoping she'd be willing to help even though his visit was so unexpected.

'You should have, yes…' she paused for a second, seemingly thinking, 'Still, since you're already here, fine. But I warn you, Luna's here, too; she stayed over. So if you want to talk to me in private, you'll have to come back.'  
>Harry thought about it for a moment, contemplating if letting Luna know about it would be a good idea, before deciding that he needed to get it off his chest, no matter what. And anyway, the chances of the blonde girl of all people, telling anyone sounded more absurd the more he thought about it.<p>

So he shook his head and followed Hermione silently.

Luna was sitting at the same spot she had been when he left yesterday, a cup of tea between her hands. She turned at the sound of the opening door, greeting him with a cheery smile which didn't fit with his mood at all.

'Hello Harry', she said, 'What are you doing here?'

'Well, I've got a bit of a problem, and I wanted Hermione to help me with it…', he started.

'Do you want me to leave the two of you alone, then?' From anyone else these words would've sounded hurt or even hostile, but the way the ex-Ravenclaw said them, they sounded merely curious.

'No, no, it's fine. Actually, it might be good to hear a third opinion.'

'Is it about Draco Malfoy?'

'What?', Harry spluttered, feeling blood rushing to his face, 'Why should it be about Draco?'

'Just wondering', she answered happily, before changing the subject, 'But what is it then?'

It took the brunet a few seconds to put his thoughts into order again after Luna had messed them up with her strange question.

'It's about Ginny', he said slowly, 'It's just that…well, I don't think I…love her anymore.' It was harder to say it than he had thought and the second the words had left his mouth he knew why: It was only then that he really realized it was true.

'I suspected you were in some kind of crisis', Hermione broke the silence which had followed his statement, 'But I never thought it would be so severe.'  
>'You knew? How?', he asked, a bit dumbfounded.<p>

'Well, you didn't touch her all the time anymore; you didn't constantly look at or sit close to her. You just were more…distant when it came to her. It really wasn't that hard to see.'

'Did Ron-?' The panic was evident in his voice.

'He noticed it too, if you mean that. I think it is part of why he has been behaving so terribly towards you recently; he's afraid you'll hurt her. And from what you've said, I suppose you will.'

The panic rising in him must have shown in his face, because before Hermione could say anything more, the other girl interrupted their talk.

'Don't worry so much, Harry', Luna said sweetly, ' I'm sure that Ron'll understand. You just have to give him some time; I think he's just a bit scared because you've been making so many choices he doesn't understand lately. Maybe you should just talk about it sometime.'

She leaned back again, smile still on her lips, leaving the others staring at her. It was easy to forget that there was more to Luna than her dreamy, slightly insane exterior.

At last, Hermione spoke, 'She could be right, you know? It hit pretty hard when you started being friends with Malfoy, especially because you spent so much time with him. More than with us. He even said something about us losing you once, and if you break up with Ginny now, it's surely going to confirm whatever horrible thing he is imagining going on.'

The Golden Boy knew he shouldn't, but fact was that the only thing he registered in that very moment was the last sentence: 'So you think I really should break up with her?'

The brown-haired girl looked at him for a moment, then said, 'Yes. It will break her heart, but it wouldn't be fair if you pretended to still love her.'

'I agree with Hermione', the blonde suddenly spoke up, 'But I think that Ginny already knows. After all, we both noticed that something was wrong; it'd be strange if she hadn't', she continued when seeing the horrified look on the male's face.

'You think she- but she can't….not even I knew about it…and if, why didn't she say anything?'

The girls looked at him as if he had lost his mind.  
>'Because she loves you, and she wants you to stay with her, of course', Luna said, only to have the other add, 'You idiot.'<p>

The three sat in silence for a few moments; Harry's thought rushing through his head like mad, because suddenly breaking up seemed so much scarier than before.

'It's just….', he whispered, 'I still don't want to hurt her.'

The brown-haired girl sighed and rested her chin on her hands, 'You will, though, there's no other way. And the longer you postpone it, the harder it is going to be for her. She'll think you've given the two of you another chance.'

Hermione was right, of course, like always, but exactly that was the problem.

'I'll do it', the Golden Boy said, sounding tired, 'Just not today; I want to talk to Ron first. Tell him my part of the story, too and I doubt he'd listen if I tried afterwards. Do you know when he'll be back today?'

'About seven, I think. And just so you know, I think it's a very brave thing to do', she answered, a small, encouraging smile on her lips.

'Thanks. I just don't think he'll see it the same way.'

'Probably not', she stood up and moved to the counter, 'Do you maybe want a cup of tea? You know, tea fixes everything.'

'Yes, please. I think I could use some fixing.' He smiled weakly.

'You look that way too', the girl answered, turning her back to him.

Harry grimaced, but couldn't quite disagree; he surely looked like he hadn't slept in days.

'How are things going with Draco, by the way?', Hermione asked, suddenly changing the topic, false innocence prominent in her voice, 'I was rather surprised by his behaviour yesterday. It appears you were right about him changing.'

'You should have brought him along sooner, though', Luna piped in, 'We had a fascinating talk about Veelas; he knows quite a lot about them. I suspect he might be related to one.'

'I don't know about that, but we're getting along great. It's strange, but I don't even think about us being enemies anymore…'

Harry didn't notice it, but when talking about the fair-haired boy, his face suddenly lost all its weariness, his eyes started to sparkle and a smile graced his lips. The girls did, though.

Both had noticed a change in their friend's behaviour, whose cause was obviously a certain former schoolmate of them. He seemed deeply affected by Draco Malfoy, unconsciously imitating certain gestures and figures of speech the other used often, spending as much time with him as possible and of course, talking about him at each and every opportunity.

Especially Hermione had worried at first, not only because of the experiences they had had with the blonde in the past, but also when seeing how much this friendship had strained the relationship with Ginny, as soon as the ginger had finally realized that her boyfriend's affections for the other boy weren't as platonic as the brunet himself seemed to think.

The brown-haired girl had changed her mind about them just the day before, when seeing how Draco had tried his hardest to impress them for the other one's sake, how he had looked at him with clear adoration in his eyes and the way Harry had smiled so reassuringly at him every time he had noticed the former Death-eater's gaze.

But most importantly, she had seen them after they had left, standing in the middle of the street, but too wrapped up in their own world to notice anybody else except the other one. And when Harry's stroking had stopped and they were left just staring into each other's eyes, she had known that whatever it was between the two of them, it was special, special enough to risk everything else for it.

Hermione feared that that was exactly what her friend was doing at the moment, since, unlike Luna, she wasn't so sure how Ron would take it that the Golden Boy had not only fallen out of love with his sister, but also _in_ love with a male ex-Slytherin, who happened to be the very person making their life a living hell for seven years.

She had told the blonde girl everything after returning inside, and they had ended up talking the whole night through. Luna had told the other about her own talk with Draco and it had made her heart ache. It appeared that the fair-haired boy was just as besotted with Harry as the Golden Boy was with him, if not more; in her soft, dreamy voice she had spoken about longing looks cast towards the kitchen door, smiles at the mention of the boy's name, faces lighting up when the brunet entered the room, adoring glances being shared and flirtatious smiles accompanying playful teasing.

However, unlike the other, the former Death-eater seemed to be aware of his feelings, which explained the trace of sadness mixed into each word, smile and look directed at the other.

And although Hermione desperately wanted to open Harry's eyes, she knew it wouldn't have been a good idea; he had to find that out for himself and see what he wanted to do about it. She just hoped that, when the time would come, he would make the right choice.


	10. Chapter 10

_I'M SO SORRY. Like, really, I'm so terribly, incredibly, completely sorry. I feel absolutely horrible for letting you wait so long; I just hope you can forgive me. I know that there is no excuse for not updating for more than one bloody month, just...I've never, ever suffered from a writer's block this severe before. It took about... twelve attempts to get this chapter into a form which I don't completely hate. I'm still not really satisfied, but in the end I figured that writing it yet another time was probably not going to make it any better._

_And like always, I'd like to thank (and in this case, expecially apologize to) _Anakaraya Ravenclaw_, _theghostinside_, _superioritycomplex144_ and _Injury13_, as well as dedicating this chapter to _superioritycomplex144_ for being wonderful in general and sending incredibly sweet and motivating messages in particular. I don't want to know how long I would have taken to write this without you (:_

* * *

><p>When Harry finally returned to the small house his two best friends now shared, his heart was feeling as if it was to rip through his bones and skin any minute, his hands were shaking and breathing was becoming more and more difficult with every step he took.<p>

Ron had always cared more about his family than anything else, one of the traits Harry always had admired most about him, but also the reason why he knew that with breaking Ginny's heart, he would not only do the same to his friend's, but probably smash their friendship to pieces as well. After all, how could he possibly forgive the man who broke his little sisters heart, the one person he had always wanted to protect?

For a second he thought about just turning around and leaving everything the way it was, but even now, something just told him how this was indeed the right thing to do, consequences be damned.

And so he took the last step as well as a deep breath and let his whole body fall forward, pushing the button of the doorbell at last, andfeeling the small piece of plastic move as if time had slowed down. From inside he could hear the shrill, unpleasant sound and fought back the urge to run.

When the door finally opened, it wasn't Ron, whom he had expected, but Hermione, looking almost as anxious and nervous as he felt.

'Hello, Harry', she greeted him, obviously trying very hard to sound cheery, but failing miserably at it.

'Hi.'

'I'm glad you've come', she said, stepping aside a little to let her friend in, 'I was fearing you wouldn't. Can't say I would've blamed you, after all…well, but I'm pretty sure everything is going to go fine. He'll understand. Maybe not immediately, but… '

The brunet gave her a smile, thankful for her attempt in calming both of them down a bit, even though it didn't seem to help anything.

'Where is he?'

'In the living room. And Harry?', she brushed a stray strand of brown, curly hair from her face, 'Good luck.'

'Thanks Hermione', he said, weak grin stretching his lips almost painfully, 'I suppose I'll just go in now, right?'

The girl nodded and the Golden Boy, taking a deep breath and cursing himself for both his lack of strength and the very idea of coming here all together, opened the door.

Ron was lying on the sofa, currently flicking through a Quidditch-magazine and at first, didn't notice the visitor at all; only the sound of Harry's shoes against the hardwood floor made him look up in the end. Those few seconds were a small mercy the other was terribly thankful for since, although he knew exactly what he wanted to say, finding out how was almost impossible.

'Oh, hello. Didn't know you were coming', the ginger started, 'Is anything wrong? Look, if it's about that blasted dinner…'

'No, no, that's not why I'm here', the brunet answered and the relief in the other's face was evident. There was something strange and almost amusing about the fact that Ron had wanted to apologize to him _just__now_.

'It does have something to do with it, though.' He took a deep breath and for the first time since entering the room looked Ron in the eye, 'But, first…I just really want you to know that I'm glad we're back being friends. I mean it.'

The ginger chuckled, although the slightest hint of suspicion appeared in his gaze, 'You're scaring me, mate. This sounds terribly much like something that's going to end with 'But unfortunately I'm going to die tomorrow.''

Harry laughed a little, well aware of the fact that he couldn't possibly hide his nervousness, 'Ah, no, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you there. I actually intend to stick around a bit longer.', he grew serious again, taking one last, deep breath before finally spitting out what had come to say , 'The thing is…I am going to end things with Ginny.'

And he had mentally prepared himself for the rage and the anger and the screaming, yet none of it came. Instead there was a single word, shocked, but completely void of any other emotion.

'What?'

It took Harry some time to recover, and in the end he still couldn't do anything than repeating his previous words once more.

'But why?', Ron asked, his voice still flat, but now drenched with disbelief. 'I thought you loved her.'  
>The brunet run a hand through his hair, making it stick up in even weirder angles than before, 'That's what I thought, too. It's…well, actually I don't know what it is. The feeling's just gone, I don't know why. I wish I could change it, but I can't.'<p>

'But she loves you. It'll break her heart.' There was desperation in the other boy's voice, and Harry just didn't know if this reaction was better or worse than the one he had prepared himself for. Sure, he was glad that they didn't fight, but seeing the other boy so _broken_ almost caused him physical pain.  
>'I know.'<p>

'Why can't you give her another chance? If it worked out once…'

The Golden Boy shook his head, not really able to put to words why he was so sure that whatever he had once felt for Ginny would never come back, no matter how long he waited or what he did.

They stayed silent for a second, the pause only cut short because there still was something which Harry_needed_to know before leaving.

'Can we stay friends? Even though I'll leave her?', he asked, not even caring to disguise the desperate hint of his voice. They had known each other for so long; he didn't even want to imagine how it would be without the other male.

The ginger seemed to think for a second, before finally answering, 'I…I don't know. Not right now…right now I've got to be her brother, but…later. Maybe. Yes.'

'I understand', Harry answered and meant it. 'Thank you. I'll just…I'll see you around, okay?'

And with that, he turned around, half expecting Ron to call him back and either slap him across the face or tell him not to worry. Nothing happened, though, but Hermione was waiting outside of the room, rushing over towards him as soon as he opened the door.

'Harry! How did it go? Was it alright? I didn't hear any shouting, so I suppose it went okay…although, sometimes when Rom's really angry-'

The brunet cut her off, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. Seeing his usually collected friend that worked up was almost frightening. Somehow he would never have thought the whole situation could affect her so much, too. 'It was fine…I guess. I don't know. He wasn't really angry, just shocked. And well, he doesn't want to see me for the next weeks…not that I could blame him. I wouldn't want to see me either.' He gave the girl a weak smile, trying to wipe that concerned look off her face, but failed terribly. It only took her a moment's time to rush to his side as if fearing he could keel over every second.

'Merlin, Harry, what's wrong? Do you feel ill?'

'I'm fine, Hermione, really. I just haven't slept very much last night…and the effects of the adrenaline are ebbing off.', he added, seeing the look on her face.

'If you think so…' She still didn't sound very convinced, but let the whole thing go, something Harry was incredibly thankful for. Arguing was tiring him out terribly.

'Are you able to apparate or do you want to use the floo service? I can also call you a taxi if you prefer that', the brown-haired girl kept on talking, making Harry smile for real this time. Listening to her made him think of Mrs. Weasley.

'I'll be fine, Hermione, really. You just go back to Ron, I think he needs you more. And yes, I'll be in touch as soon as I've talked to Ginny.'

A small smile appeared on her face before she flung herself at Harry, squeezing him so tightly he almost couldn't breathe.

'I'm so proud of you', she whispered against his shoulder, 'You're doing the right thing. I just know you are.'

And the Golden Boy found that he agreed.

It appeared that he hadn't quite told Hermione the truth when insisting on being well enough to apparate by himself, since he only barely made it home, slumping down as soon as his feet touched the floor. He couldn't remember when he had last been so tired and only thinking of Ginny made him want to curl up and just sleep until it all was over.

Sighing, he dragged himself up from the ground and made his way over to the kitchen. _Tea__fixes__everything_, Mrs. Weasley had once told him, he just doubted it was also true when it came to breaking up with her daughter.

It wasn't, it most certainly wasn't, Harry decided half an hour later when the flames in the fireplace turned green and a familiar figure stepped out, clad only in a threadbare t-shirt and jeans. Ginny looked as if she had been crying, and it confirmed what he had suspected the whole time: She knew.

And he couldn't move, couldn't say anything, because suddenly he couldn't bear the thought of hurting her even more. In the end it was her to break the silence.

'You wanted to talk to me?', she said, more weakly than Harry would have thought it possible. He could practically hear the suppressed tears in her voice.

'Do you really want me to say it?', he asked her, voice clear of any hostility; he just didn't know if actually saying the words was going to make it easier or even more difficult for her.

She nodded, hands gripping the hem of her shirt so hard her knuckles were turning white and she bit down on her bottom lip in a way which left Harry wondering when she'd draw blood.

'I…I have to end this. I'm sorry.'

And Ginny bit down, piercing the already tender flesh of her lip, but licking the blood away before it could run down her chin.

She looked as if she had been punched, as if she hadn't slept for three nights in a row, as if she was gravely ill.

'Why?', she asked, the same question as her brother just minutes before and he found himself giving an answer, without thinking that it might hurt her even more.

'I don't love you anymore; I can't explain why. It just happened.'

It seemingly did since she bit down once more, and with her not paying attention, a drop of blood made its way down her pale skin. Harry wanted to wipe it away, but stopped himself before taking even a step towards her.

'I'm sorry', he said, hoping she'd believe him, 'I wish it wasn't like this.'  
>For the first time since she had stepped out of the flames, she looked directly at Harry, and it scared him how dull her gaze had grown.<p>

'Is it because of him?', she asked, voice unsteady and raspy.

'Because of whom?' Harry didn't really have to ask, it was so obvious what Ginny was saying, but he didn't want to hear it. He wouldn't drag his friendship with Draco into this if he didn't have to.

'Malfoy.'

'He doesn't have anything to do with this; he doesn't even _know_.'

There was doubt in her eyes when she looked away again, doubt which Harry didn't like at all.

'I'm sure he'll still be pleased to hear it', she answered eventually, voice still broken but bitter.

'What? Why should he?' It was true, Draco didn't like Ginny very much, but the Golden Boy was sure that he wouldn't be happy about their break-up.

He didn't like he glance his now ex-girlfriend shot him at all, when she asked with what sounded like exhaustion in her voice, 'You are really completely oblivious, aren't you?' She ran her fingers through copper hair, unknowingly wiping away a little of the blood staining her skin; when she brought her hand back down, she noticed the red smudge, looking down on it in wonder.

'I should go', she suddenly said, voice still weak, but more steady than before, 'Goodbye.' And before Harry could even say a word, she stepped back into the fireplace, and without talking her eyes off the blood, threw down a hand of floo powder.

The room was tinted green for a moment, and she was gone, leaving him standing in the middle of the living room, mouth still hanging open from when he wanted to tell her goodbye.

The tea was still warm when he found he could move again, and he took a sip, only to find it far too milky and sweet for his usual liking. Ginny had drunk hers like this, he had prepared it for her countless times and still it didn't really hurt thinking about it…or her. Sighing, he went over to the sink and poured the liquid down the drain, before leaving the kitchen to finally, finally go to bed. But then again…

He knew that if he was going to call anyone it should have been Hermione; but the girl wasn't the one person he really wanted to talk to just now. Another sigh escaped him, but even though he was tired, those few minutes wouldn't hurt.

Only a minute later he was kneeling in front of the fireplace, throwing a hand full of floo powder into it.  
>'Malfoy Manor', he said, as loudly and clearly as possible, not having forgotten the time he landed in Knockturn Alley. The flames changed colours and when he held his face into the fire he was greeted by the now familiar stone walls and dark furniture.<p>

'Draco?', he called out, hoping that the other boy wasn't in the garden or simply too far away to hear him.

A minute passed without a sign of the blonde before he called out again, a slightly desperate edge noticeable in his voice. He didn't quite know why, but suddenly it seemed so, so important to tell his friend about his break up with Ginny. However, before he could contemplate the reason for this, he finally heard the familiar footsteps approaching. The door creaked open, almost hesitantly and Draco's head appeared. The ex-Slytherin looked around the room for a second, as if expecting to find it empty and, when finally noticing the other's face in the flames, let out a gasp of surprise which sounded as if he had entered before and found it void of another presence.

'Harry', he breathed, 'What are you doing here?'

'I wanted to talk to you', the brunet answered, words flowing from his tongue so much more easy than it had been with his former girlfriend, 'I've broken up with Ginny.'

He didn't really know what reaction he had expected from his new-found friend, but what he got was definitely more than it. In a second, each and every emotion known to man seemed to flicker over the fair-haired boy's face, most of them gone so fast he couldn't even try and place them. However, what was left in the end was a mixture of shock, confusion and a tiny, almost unnoticeable hint of… relief and happiness.

'What? How? Why? I mean I know you had your problems, but…' Draco spluttered, not even finishing his sentence. There was something about him which made Harry want to lean over and brush a finger, maybe two, alongside his face.

'Something…changed between the two of us. I don't love her anymore.'

Again, the other's face changed, losing some of the shock. He furrowed his brow, thinking, before answering in a strangely quiet, 'You don't?'

'Not anymore', the brunet answered, noticing that Draco had leaned forward a bit more, his hand now clutching at the stones confining the fireplace.

'Then…it's good that you split?' came the slightly breathless reply and Harry noticed that the other's knuckles had turned white from gripping so hard. And somehow it felt so important, so significant when he all but breathed a soft _yes_, that it made his heart flutter and his head spin.

Both of them stayed silent for a second, Draco's face so close to the flames the Golden Boy was sure it had to hurt, but the blonde didn't move away and somehow, Harry was glad he didn't; he unconsciously leaned forward himself, causing the flames to shift. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but there were no more words in his mind, just…

And then, suddenly, he was back in front of his fireplace, staring down on the burned down coals, lids still half closed and lips parted.

Back at the Manor, Draco blinked, startled, then quickly drew away from the fireplace and brought a hand up to his burnt lips. It hurt, but he smiled nonetheless. For just a second before Harry had vanished, for nothing more than a moment the flames licking at his skin had felt like a kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

_I can't actually believe it, but it appears that I've managed to finally finish writing this chapter which is absolutely brilliant. It's been nearly killing me, and I almost mean that literally. _

_Anyway, I'm really, really sorry for taking so long to upload this, especially since it took so terribly long the last time as well. But since this is going to be the last regular chapter I wanted to make it a bit more...special, I suppose.I hope you can forgive me once more, and I promise I'll do my best with the epilogue. _

_And last but not least, I'd like to thank all the lovely people who put this story under their favourites and of course, especially _theghostinside_, _ryohei-nya_ and _superioritycomplex144_ who left a review. You make me a very, very happy person. _

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><p>When Draco woke up the next morning, the sun had long since risen, casting rays of light into the dark, unfriendly room and turning it warm and friendly. It wasn't something he was used to seeing- in fact the last time he had slept so long had been before the war and before the nightmares had started. It felt nice.<p>

He sighed, stretching his arms and tentatively brought an index finger to his lips. The touch still hurt, mostly because he was rubbish at healing spells, always had been, but for once he didn't curse himself for his lack of talent, since the ache was the one proof he had that last night's events had been real. Heart fluttering at the mere memory, he scolded himself: Right now, with him still not quite awake and his entire face burning, it was not the right time to think about something as important as this. He stifled a yawn, heaving himself out of bed and made his way down to the kitchen.

The first time he had made himself breakfast without the help of houselves had been the first time his mother had disappeared from the mansion for several days. It hadn't been something of great importance, just something to take his mind off the concern for her, but he had found that the preparing had a soothing effect, almost as if through it, the mansion felt a little bit more of a home than a dungeon. And so he had continued doing it until it had become a habit which he didn't even want to break whenever his mother did show up.

Reaching the kitchen Draco walked to the sink and filled up the kettle in order to make tea, another little ritual of his: Black tea in the morning.  
>He could almost hear his mother saying <em>Tea fixes everything<em>, her smile barely hidden behind the rim of her cup. It didn't, of course, but the memory of days where he had still had a family to come back to in the holidays made things at least a little bit easier.

With a swat of his hand he dismissed all thoughts of his mother, refusing to break his good mood because of things he had already spent months feeling sorry for. Instead he focused on nicer things, better things while he fetched his tea and added just the slightest bit of milk. For example, he and Blaise were going to have dinner at a pub nearby tonight, where they served the best pork pies in existence. Or that the chances of getting that internship were not so bad…although there was one problem with that, too: Moving to Wales meant leaving Harry behind and although there was the floo network and apparating, putting such a distance between them felt wrong, felt dangerous, especially after yesterday night…

He groaned, setting his mug aside and burrowing his face in his hands. He didn't want to think about the other wizard, he really, _really_ didn't want to, but still his mind suddenly flooded with pictures, sounds, memories, all somehow connected to the Golden Boy. And suddenly he decided that, while it definitely wasn't the perfect moment, it was probably as good a time to think about it as ever.

When he had met Harry, or rather when they had started not to hate each other's guts, he had, just like everyone else, assumed that The Boy Who Lived, hero of the wizard world, was as straight as a flagpole and head over heels in love with his girlfriend. However, when spending more and more time with him, he just sometimes noticed things which didn't quite fit with that assumption. At first he had blamed it on his own attraction to the other, but when months had passed it had gotten more obvious.

Sometimes it wasn't more than a glance or a touch which lasted just a moment too long and those he could write off as wishful thinking, but other times it was harder to explain, like the one evening when Harry had visited him and Draco had found him staring openly with something at least close to wonder and awe in his gaze. The blonde still couldn't get the image of his face out of his head; he had felt so naked under his stare, but somehow it hadn't felt awkward, it had felt right.

Or for example that the other wizard had stood up to his friend's on Draco's behalf, an incident which still made him feel all fuzzy and warm inside. Or the night of that bloody dinner where Harry had touched his dark Mark without so much as hesitation. That evening there had been enough tension in the air to make the air practically crackle with electricity; the kind of tension the ex-Slytherin had never before felt, only read about. It was hard to believe that Harry should not have felt at least a little of it as well.

Yesterday's events, well, they had been more than he had ever dared to imagine, and at the same time managed to fuel his hoped that maybe there really was more to come. And still…he couldn't quite wrap his head around the idea that someone like Harry might actually harbour romantic feelings for him. It simply felt like too much to ask and while he would've just asked if it had been anyone else, he couldn't bear to take the risk when it came to the Golden Boy and their friendship. The thought of losing what had developed between them was enough to cause his stomach to twist painfully.

A sigh escaped Draco's lips. The best would probably be to just wait and see.

Harry had gotten up hours earlier when it was still dark outside and the streetlights were tinting the walls of his bedroom a sickening yellow. He had slept horribly, if at all, no matter how tired he had been since the events of the last day had replayed themselves in his mind all night long; Ginny's desperation, Ron's shock and Draco's…he didn't really know what he had seen in the blonde boy's face, but then again, at the moment he didn't know about him at all. Something had changed between the two of them, and it confused Harry to no end.

Up until now he had never dared to let himself think about it, fearing what he might find (after all, everything was fine like it was, and as long as it stayed that way there was no reason to change anything) but the look when he had told him about the break up with Ginny had been registered as important in his brain.

There had been hope in his eyes, certainly, as well as some kind of longing which Harry couldn't quite place and a hint of sadness which made his heart ache when his thoughts lingered on it for too long. However, that hadn't been all. Apart from all that, Draco's gaze had been almost tender, warm, and…

All of a sudden he knew what it had been and why exactly he hadn't been able just to forget about it. What he had seen in his friend's eyes had been love.

For a second, he forgot how to breathe, how to move, even how to think, because suddenly it all fit, all the glances and touches and smiles. How could he not have noticed that before? How could he have been so blind while spending so much time with Draco?

It took a while before he managed to form a proper thought again, head still swimming with memories, which now seemed to have completely changed in meaning, beginning with their first meeting after the war (had there already been some kind of attraction which Harry had just failed to notice?), each visit and night out, ending with their conversation the night before. He felt lightheaded, his legs only carrying him to the next available chair before giving out under him.

It was too much, simply too much, but if he had been able to calm down for just a second he had noticed that, although his mind was spinning like crazy, there was less unpleasantness in his surprise, less terror than one would expect when finding out that a friend harbours a crush, a male friend nonetheless. And maybe, if he would have allowed himself to think about it a bit longer a picture would have appeared in front of his inner eye, just for a second, showing Draco and himself curled up on the sofa, sharing a cup of hot chocolate. Or, if he had followed this train of thought any longer, he would have felt the ghost of a pair of lips pressing against his own.

Still, he didn't and so there was only one thing in his head: The fact that, no matter what he would do with this new information, it would change everything, whether he wanted it too, or not and he loathed it. After all, it was all good the way it was, wasn't it? He groaned, letting his head fall into his hands.

The thing was, he didn't think he could cope with ruining another friendship, not now, not after he had lost Ginny and possibly Ron in the matter of hours and not _Draco_. It had taken them such a long time to finally overcome their differences and to take all that away again? It just felt unfair.

Another groan and slowly, tentatively, Harry got up again. He'd deal with it, of course, but he'd deal with it later.

He didn't dare to call his friend for ridiculous eight days.

It had been just like he had predicted, now he knew about Draco's feelings, their uncomplicated friendship had evolved into something much more complex, much more fragile, and it scared Harry.

In the end it was the blonde who made the first step, by simply appearing in the other wizard's living room one afternoon.

'Harry!', he screamed the second his form appeared, making the raven-haired male jump and drop the book he had been reading. His heart almost stopped; he'd been avoiding the other for more than a week and chances where that his friend now wanted to hear the reasons for that.

'Draco? What are you doing he-', he stopped mid-sentence to take in the scene in front of him. The blonde was flushed and breathless, hair askew and his gaze almost manic. There was something almost ethereal about him and Harry couldn't help but notice that his friend looked utterly gorgeous. For one second he stopped, confused about what got him thinking like this, but then the blonde started talking again, and suddenly he didn't care anymore.

'I've got the scholarship! I've got the scholarship!', Draco grinned broadly, waving around a piece of parchment. It already looked slightly crumpled, probably from the ex-Slytherin hugging it to his chest in his excitement or something similar, the raven-haired male thought and smiled back. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the other so happy and it made his own heart swell in his chest with joy.

'Really? That's wonderful!', he answered, although it was clear that _wonderful _was clearly a complete understartement.

'Isn't it?', another toothy grin, 'I never would have thought…'

'Oh rubbish. You deserve that. We both know that you've always been brilliant at potions.'

'I'm just so happy', Draco answered, bouncing up and down a little in excitement, ' I still can't quite believe it.' And with that, the former Death-eater took two, three steps and wrapped his arms around the other male, crushing him into a hug.

Harry let himself melt into the embrace, just like he had done the few times before they had hugged, but then, all of a sudden he tensed. It was different, just like everything was different now, no matter if he liked it or not and he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks as soon as he smelt Draco's shampoo.

'Harry? Are you alright?', the blonde asked, voice concerned and the raven-haired male wanted to hit himself for causing the cheerfulness to leave the other's voice.

'Yeah, of course', he lied, trying his hardest to will the blush down, 'Do you maybe want a cup of tea?'

He hurried out of the room without waiting for the answer, hearing the other hum a rather unconvincing 'Sure' towards his back. As soon as he was in the kitchen and had closed the door, he relaxed, but at the same time started scolding himself. Draco would have to be completely dumb as not to notice his strange behaviour and that was the first step in messing everything up, completely.

Letting out a sigh he moved to the counter and started heating up water. He just had to control himself better, act like he had when he was still convinced that there was nothing except for friendship between them.

Harry drew in a breath and forced himself to calm down. It would all be fine.

And really, the rest of the afternoon was decidedly less tense, less dangerous than the first few minutes of Draco's visit, and suddenly they found that while they had been chatting about moving, potions and Welsh food, the sun had begun to set.

'Oh, it's already that late?', the blonde exclaimed a bit sheepishly, 'I'll better bet gong…'

'No, it's fine', the Golden Boy interrupted absentmindedly, 'I like having you here. Why don't you just stay over for dinner?' Although the proposition itself wasn't too uncommon between the two of them, there was something off about Harry's tone, which the other male seemed to have noticed since there was just the slightest hint of confusion in eyes when he nodded.

'Yeah, sure. It's not as if I had someone waiting up for me after all.'

It was when Harry wanted to get up, to order food like a decent host, that his eyes suddenly got caught by a sight he couldn't turn away from anymore: While answering, Draco had shifted slightly so that the light coming from the street lit up his eyes and hair and turned them golden, made his cheekbones and eyelashes throw shadows over milky skin and his lips glisten where he had licked them before. He looked like an angel.

Without thinking he asked the one question which had been forming on his lips since his guest's arrival, only realizing he had really said it out-loud when he heard his own voice ring in his ears: 'When you go to Wales, will you still come here to visit?'

There was a moment of silence before Draco answered, slightly nervous and without looking at Harry.

'Do you…do you want me to?'

It sounded like the most important question he'd ever been asked.

'Of course', he whispered, barely able to find enough strength to get the words past his lips. The former Death-eater nodded slowly and then there was silence.

A car passed by, but it didn't matter since Harry couldn't, wouldn't hear anything other than the other's breathing mixing with his own. He felt himself being sucked into the same kind of trance he'd been in after the dinner at Hermione's and that one evening, staring into the fireplace, but he found that he did not want to break whichever spell was at work, for it just felt so _right_.

There was a slight creak when Draco shifted a bit closer so they were only inches apart anymore, the movement causing a strand of silky hair to fall into his face, obscuring his eyes and the Golden Boy lifted his trembling hand to brush it aside. It was meant as a short, completely platonic gesture, nothing to be worried about, but when Harry's fingertips touched the warm, soft skin of the blonde's cheek he couldn't bear to pull them away anymore. Draco looked back at him, eyes widening, but staying completely still as if he was afraid of breaking the spell and the other's stomach filled with warmth.

Without thinking, he let his fingers travel downwards, brushing across Draco's cheekbones and the corner of his lips before finally cupping the blonde's face. A gasp which no one knew the source of and the ex-Slytherin leaning into the touch, his own heart swelling in his chest and the feel of another's breath on his skin and the only thing Harry could do was to lean in and brush his lips over the other male's.

Their kiss, their first kiss, was short and chaste, more of a promise than anything else, but perfect in its own way. When the Golden Boy pulled away (just an inch as not to lose the connection completely) there was a smile on both their faces and he found that maybe, not all change was for the worse after all. For suddenly there were images, sounds and memories flashing in his mind, letting him finally see what he had so conveniently ignored for months.

He had always known that his relationship with Draco differed from the ones with Dean or Ron, but he had always believed this was because they had been enemies for so long. But now it all made sense, because it went deeper than that, much deeper. Deeper than it had ever been with Cho or Ginny, because this wasn't based on physical attraction but the fact that they just fitted without having to do anything for it. And then, Harry realized that somehow along the way he had fallen in love with Draco.

It was a strange thought at first, but at the same time it made his mind go blank and warm and dizzy, senses tingling because he suddenly was aware of every point of contact between him and the other

Draco must have noticed the quickening of Harry's breathing because his looked changed to a worried one, fine lines showing on his forehead and he pulled away a bit further.

'Are you alright?', he asked, voice quiet and slightly breathy and it took a moment until the other could speak again.

'Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…', Harry's voice trailed off, because how could he put something into words which he had just found out himself? In the end, mainly because Draco didn't look as if he believed him and in that very moment he would've done anything to see the blonde's smile again, he said it as simple as he could.

'I've just realized that I have been in love with you for a long time.'

It worked, because as soon as Draco had comprehended the word's meaning (Harry could practically see how the other's brain worked, figuring out if the other really meant it) a smile tugged at his lips, slowly but surely, until it was stretched across his whole face.

'Really?', he asked, but Harry knew that it was just because he wanted to hear him say it again.

'Yes. Really.'

The smile grew even bigger and the other male just _knew _it had to hurt, but then Draco replied, 'That's good. Because I think I have been in love with you since an even longer time and I don't know what I'd do if you'd ditch me now', and he couldn't care anymore. Couldn't care about anything, because nothing mattered except that Draco loved him back and he felt a smile similar to the one on the blonde's face appearing on his.

And because the other still looked so beautiful, and he wanted to, and most of all he was allowed to, now, Harry leaned forward and kissed Draco again.


	12. Epilogue

_Okay, so this is it. Last little bit of this story and I can't even begin to tell you how terribly sad and happy and relieved I am._

_It's been brilliant, at least for me, and I just hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it. And so in the last author's , note I'd like to thank _theghostinside_ and _superioritycomplex144_ as always, as well as _Lady Constance Malfoy Hummel, Fantony, the14th, vampire5596, Insomiak, Anakaraya Ravenclaw, hoperocks98, RoibenJazz, gbheart, trish, Injury13_ and _ryohei-nya_ for the wonderful comments and support and everyone else for reading this. You've got all my love._

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><p>Waking up in the living room was strange and it took Harry's eyes a few moments to adjust to the bright light flooding through the windows. It had to be quite late already, around noon, for the little patch of the world he could see from his current location was sunny and cheery, which suited his mood somehow, although he couldn't quite remember why yet. There just was a lightness in his chest, a constant, bubbling joy which made him want to hug the whole world and take it out for ice cream. He wanted to smile, but when he tried to, he found that he already was, lips stretched out so wide it should have hurt.<p>

After a second he tried to move his head, but the motion caused a sharp flare of pain shooting up his neck. Obviously ling half-propped up on one's sofa wasn't the best way to spend the night; his arm had gone numb too, where it had been pinned into the cushions by his body weight. Again, moved his head, but this time it actually worked and he faced the reason for the unexplained happiness which filled him since he had woken up.

For there, carelessly wrapped around him, was Draco Malfoy, still facts asleep

* * *

><p><em>'So you'll come back to visit me from time to time?', Harry asked, his hand still cupping the other's face. He probably should have let go ages ago, but Draco hadn't said anything and so he let his hand stay where it was, his thumb tracing patterns over milky skin. Staying like this made every word, every breath feel important, almost like a promise; it was intimate, but still the situation didn't feel suffocating like it sometimes had with Ginny. It was perfect. <em>

_'If you want me to, of course', there was a sparkle in Draco's eyes he had never seen before, and his voice was soft and playful, so Harry knew that the other already knew the answer. _

_'Of course I do', he said, 'As often as possible. And then some.'_

_He grinned and kissed Draco, short and sweet, and when he pulled back, a playful grin had appeared on the other's lips._

_'Oh, I think that should be possible. I'll just go and tell them, 'Sorry, I can't come in tomorrow, The Boy Who Lived has requested my presence for a heated make out session.' I'm sure they'll understand.'_

_Harry let out a small laugh, 'Oh, they better will. After all, I'm the hero of the Wizarding World. And if I want to snog you into oblivion, I'll do exactly that!'_

''_I'm not going to protest there', Draco replied with a chuckle, 'Although it kind of does make me sound like a…concubine or something.'_

'_Concubine? Oh, I don't think I like that word. Doesn't sound very fitting, does it?', he smiled. _

'_I'm glad we agree on that. But speaking of that, what _would_ you prefer?' _

_It was strange how quickly playful banter could turn into something much more serious, Harry thought._

'_I…' he paused for a second to collect his thoughts. What did he want? Of course all of this came terribly soon after the break up with Ginny, but then again, it felt so right and he knew that the last thing he wanted was for Draco to leave. _

'_I don't really like the word _boyfriend _very much either, but I think…I think I quite like the concept.' He felt blood rushing to colour his cheeks as he smiled at the other male in front of him, not knowing if these had been the right words to say. But then Draco smiled back and there was relief written all over his face, and he knew that they had been. _

'_Who needs these labels anyway, right?', the blond asked and took Harry's hand, lacing their fingers together, 'But I'm glad that this means I get to keep you.'_

* * *

><p>The events of yesterday's night continued to replay themselves in Harry's head, but he couldn't really say he minded. After all, everything had managed to go from awkward to perfect in the matter of one single night. Draco was still sleeping and he continued to watch him, marvelling at how peaceful the other looked, almost serene. It felt special, because Harry knew that he usually had such troubles sleeping, but it didn't seem to matter, not now. Not when Draco was with him.<p>

He raised a hand and started to run it through the other's silken hair, careful to keep the touch light as not to wake him. It didn't seem to work out, though because only seconds later, Draco's eyelids started to flutter open, pupils still wide and unfocused as he smiled a hello at the Golden Boy.

'Good morning', Harry greeted back, ignoring how tight his chest suddenly felt, 'Slept well?'

'Better than I did in years. You?'

'Brilliant.' For a second, he considered telling the other about how his arm had fallen asleep, but in the end, he decided against it. This intimacy was worth so much more than a numb arm.

'So', Draco started, drawing patterns on the fabric-clad skin of his chest, 'Do you have any plans for today?'

'I do, actually', the Golden Boy answered, ignoring the slight frown on the blond's face, 'I thought we could lie around here for a bit and then go out for breakfast, since I don't think I've got anything to eat at home. And then we could spend the rest of the day here and... catch up with what we should have done ages ago.' He grinned when he saw Draco's face lighten up again, 'Of course only if you're free.'

The other took his hand and laced their fingers together just like the night before, 'Hm… that could be a bit difficult, because I'm not _free_ anymore after last night', he grinned broadly at him, '…But I suppose I still could find some time for you.'

And Draco leaned forward to capture his lips in the sweetest kiss and Harry could feel the other's smile against his own skin.


End file.
